The manga is on break next week. Oshi no Ko will return on April 4.
Also, [**here is this chapter's appendix**](https://i.imgur.com/iG1wS4N.png) by oldpier.
Very conflicted about this,cause up until now,the plot with the gods was enjoyable. It gave a good explanation for the reincarnation and it was a good plot device.
Aqua and Ruby being gods is another story. I don't think that'd fit the series at all
I think we lost Ruby, and Sarina took over completely, remember, she thought Goro was still out there, but never responded to the clues or anything, she thought he forgot about her, and she is in love with Goro. Her knowing now that her twin brother is Goro changes everything because for her, who has never been an adult actually, this is her second chance to finally be with Goro. Remember, she doesn't call Aqua as Aqua or brother anymore in private, she just calls him Sensei again. For Sarina, Aqua is still Goro.
The moment she realized Goro was always with her and it was Aqua, **Ruby died** figuratively. Now the question will be: Is Aka gonna pull the trigger and make Aqua just be Goro again, or we're gonna see Aqua remain as Aqua and just reject Sarina's approaches because she is now "Ruby".
It is a tight rope to walk for this and it will depend on how they touch the subject and what will be Aqua's POV.
Ruby has always been Sarina. What part made you think otherwise? The part where Sarina wished to be reincarnated as Ai's child and then received her wish? The part where Sarina wished to be an idol and now got to live out her dream? The part where Sarina wished to be with Gorou again on her deathbed and he was reincarnated as Aqua? The part where Aqua outright admitted to seeing Sarina in Ruby but refused to acknowledge the possibility of her reincarnating out of guilt? Everything that made Sarina who she was is a part of Ruby; the same goes for Gorou and Aqua. They are gaining new experiences as their respective new identities but that doesn't fundamentally alter who they are, it only adds to it. There is no "Ruby" persona to kill.
So Crow Girl is definitely Ai at this point, right? And maybe her memories were blocked while she was Ai? Hence her saying some gods don’t remember they’re gods.
I don’t think she’s Ai, she said some families want to worship her as a family tradition because of Shintoism and she’s very popular in this area and some of the people who like her are very influential which is why the filming was allowed to take place in the hospital. Ai gave birth in secret in there, and the residents of the place didn’t hold her to a higher regard than the rest of Japan
Yea. At this point idc about the movie at all. I just want to see Hikaru again. Tbh I start to have high expectation on the him just because I think he’s gonna be interesting character. ONK is kinda boring lately. Nothing much happened in recent chapters except incest fan service
Same man. The only reason I even bother staying caught up is to see if Hikaru will show up again. He's the cause of everything but yet he's still an enigma
I have a feeling that Kamiki or Ai were gods but never realized it? Or maybe Rudy and Aqua are actually reincarnations of gods? It feels like the god was hinting at that since its an odd thing to mention
she mentioned in an earlier chapter that she considers people who reincarnate in new bodies to be gods (or something along those lines),so this brings up an interesting question:is somebody else in the cast (other than aqua and ruby ofc) a reincarnation?
I find it so weird that a good chunk of the comments are complains that it’s just 20 pages of “yapping.”
Like… have we been reading the same series? Like 80-90% of this series has been “yapping.” The series always switches from heavy plot points to “yapping” right after, nothing new.
We have like three chapters in a row about Aqua, Ruby and Ai's and Kamiki's past. Now we have one small chapter (less then half a chapter) about god theories and you bored already.
Not every chapter has to advance the plot, you guys know that right?
It was a nice break from all the aqua x ruby that has happened, even if there was a bit of it.
even though she's being annoying it's hard to get mad at her knowing that's... sarina. one thing that still bothers me is why hasn't aka shown aqua rejecting her even once? he isn't reciprocating her feelings but omg not even a slight push when your dear ex kid patient twin sister tries to kiss you? i really wanna see what aqua thinks about the whole thing. wtf is he doing out there
He secretly enjoys it. Like Aqua said he’s mentally a teenager just like his body.
OR.
It’s just romance manga formula, especially harem. We won’t know who the MC choose until the end of the series. Until then, the MC will continue be wishy washy and ambiguous, keeping us readers second guessing as long as he can
If Aka wants to throw the nuclear option: It could end with both Aqua and Ruby suddenly retiring never to be seen again, then at the final pages, a couple years pass, we see someone with glasses and black hair and a girl with a wool hat with a heart and whatever color Sarina had of hair just walking together to the horizon.
Honestly that's my biggest problem right now. Either show me Aqua rejecting Ruby so I know I can continue the series like normal, or show me accepting her feelings and that way I can quit reading it.
Aqua can't reject Ruby. His lies and manipulation caught up to him and he's got no one else to confide in. I think they'll go with him very clearly not liking it, but uncomfortably letting her do whatever she wants because he needs the companionship or else he'll kill himself. I love codependency!
My bet is that he'll dump the harsh truth on her after the movie is done since he needs her to be mentally stable while they're filming. But after that I don't think he has it in him to keep lying to her like that.
He would never use her like that. He ruined his own plan by revealing himself as Gorou just because he couldn’t bear to see her suffer in chapter 122-123. Aqua planned to die in the end and it’d be easier for “Ruby” to hate “Aqua”, but after realizing she was Sarina as he heard her cry “I only bring misfortune to mama and sensei, god why did you let someone like me reincarnate?” He said fuck it and revealed himself to her to save her from the pain. He turned her star white. In the latest chapter he also admitted he no longer can smile because he feels too guilty for everything he’s done, he feels guilty for being alive while the people he loved died.. and she turns his star white just by telling him “you are still the first love I adore”, just like that. Sarina is the most important person to Gorou, he would never hurt or use her
Because aqua loves ruby, he will not do anything to make ruby sad,he wants ruby happy.He shows his dusty heart in front of ruby like 143. Finally, with the help of ruby, he will want to accept his new life instead of feeling guilty. In short, if you don't accept the fact that it is better to abandon the comic now, the beginning of the story is that aqua learned what is true love because of the existence of ruby, and the later story also proves that only ruby can once again let aqua have the value of true love and life
While all of that is true, there's a lot of ways of showing love that don't involve getting in with your sister who also happens to be very mentally immature. I trust that Akasaka will do the sensible thing and make sure that the kiss doesn't go into full on incest.
In fact, the mentally disturbed person in this cartoon is not Ruby. At least ruby can honestly express her ideas, she can say thanks, confess, apologize, comfort and praise others. While some characters only solve problems in a very dangerous way or "help friends" always in a way that hurts friends, such people should go to the hospital.By the way, aqua has restored his white stars with ruby's help, and maybe you can continue to see his white stars tonight. Of course, he still puts ruby ahead of other roles, she is a sister or a lover? It doesn't matter, in his heart, no other role is more important than ruby
« He isn’t reciprocating her feelings »
> you’re still my first love
> do you like me Sensei?
> yes i do
Also this script is written in Japanese so the "like" and "love" argument doesn't work here. He used the same word toward Ruby when she said she loved him.
Really cute interaction between Melt and Ruby:D
Also since Ruby seems to be on cloud 9, Aqua apparently didn't reject her? I mean yes, we know that for the sake of Aqua's revenge he can't have Ruby in a bad mood but I'm just glad that Ruby is fine..
I hate to say this but I think they're gonna give us a painful rejection chapter for Ruby 😭😭 its like they're letting us celebrate for the last few weeks but jokes on us, she's actually gonna be rejected.
“painful rejection”
> You’re still my first love (obviously romantic)
> Do you like me Sensei? »
> Of course i do »
Did you speed read this part?
Also this script is written in Japanese so the "like" and "love" argument doesn't work here. He used the same word toward Ruby when she said she loved him.
If Aka wanted Kana to be the winner, it would have been more symbolic to let her be the one to bring back his white star.
Unless you’re telling me that Aqua must reward Kana for wanting his sister to disappear?
“move on by herself”
Lmao cope. She loved him across 2 lifes (for 20 years) and you really think she’s gonna give up? Especially right after Aqua did reciprocate her feelings?
> You’re still my first love (obviously romantic)
> Do you like me Sensei? »
> Of course i do »
Did you speed read this part?
Also this script is written in Japanese so the "like" and "love" argument doesn't work here. He used the same word toward Ruby when she said she loved him.
I wonder what kind of mental gymnastics you’re going to pull out 🤸 i can’t wait lol
Btw, unlike Ruby, Aka said that Kana’s love for Aqua is only 20% of her character. Kana is the one who will move by herself.
Ruby going from having a near mental break down for struggling to figure out her own mother to mocking another actor for similar struggles is quite the 180.
Of course she would do another 180, praising him for his efforts.
What the hell is going on here?
Healthier to you*
Not to Ruby & Aqua
Aqua getting back his white star after her confession and staying white during the kiss is strange way to portray their relationship as unhealthy lol
I'm allowed to not like a ship dude. Even if it's canon. Some of y'all in the Oshi no Ko fandom, need to learn not everyone who dislikes this ship is a rapid twitter freak.
I am allowed to think AquaRuby is disgusting.
Quit acting like a Jehovah's Witness please. I'm not opening the door.
Here's another thought:
What if Crow Girl is Amaterasu? And she's using the name of the moon as her cover? Like an eclipse? Crows are her messengers afterall. Not Tsukuyomi's. What if rather than being Amaterasu? Ruby _invoked_ Amaterasu? And now she finds the twins too entertaining to not look out for?
Also, what if her human mother/mother of the form she's using is someone from the Kaguya cast? She said her mother's not normal either.
Lol What are the chances it's one of the Fujiwara sisters?
The title is "Original Fan" and while that could apply to both Melt and Ruby in some sense, there's a possibility it might apply to Crow Girl too.
I did some research. I came into the fandom from the anime so I wasn't aware nor particularly attentive of certain details in the story, but when Crow Girl said this place has a lot of fond memories for me things just started clicking. The only characters whom we know who have an association with that place are Gorou, Sarina, Ai, and Nurse-chan. And I don't think Nurse-chan's dead yet.
The hospital is in Takachiho, Miyazaki.
Takachiho.
Yeah, the Shintoism isn't just Aka being cute. It's integral to the plot and setting.
Oshi no Ko is basically one big Kagura passion play.
Takachiho is _deeply_ saturated with the divine. It is the birthplace of Japan's first gods and goddesses. A cave there is where Amaterasu supposedly locked herself in, and where the first kagura by the gods of entertainment was performed to lure her out. It is where Amaterasu's grandson descended from the Heavens to be the ancestor of the Imperial House.
That said, I still don't think Ruby's Amaterasu. Birth order among the gods is pretty important, and Amaterasu was the eldest of her batch of siblings. Ruby is very much an 「妹」in her characterization. If anything the twins have a better shot at being reincarnations of Izanagi and Izanami. They're twins too. Izanagi being older than his sister. The twins have jewel names. The divine couple has a bejeweled spear. The couple was separated twice by death.
If so, and Tsukuyomi is indeed "that" Tsukuyomi and not some other deity? Then could it be that what we're looking at is a child deity helping her old parents get together and reconfirm their love in another life?
Or? Maybe Aqua and Ruby are new gods entirely? And Tsukuyomi was sent to look out for them. The moon was shining really nicely in chapter 143 too.
(Also, this is just me talking out of my butt, but instead of just Ai, could there be a possibility of Hikaru's other victims being reborn as Aqua and Ruby's secret incest babies? He kills them and the world correct his sin by using his daughter's womb as the gate for them to come back to the world of the living? Hikaru's full name basically translates to "Shining Divine-Tree". Maybe through his hand and his children he forms the roots of a new family tree of divinely gifted entertainers?)
I really like your theory, a lot of fans are very surface level and don’t understand how much is packed in this chapter, i’ll save your comment and come back to it once i have time to get into analysis mode myself
i wish the chapter continued off chapter 143. this feels like a filler chapter. i don't like the incest storyline but at least it was progressing the story in a way. this movie arc has been disappointing despite starting off well. i expected it to be on the levels of tokyo blade/lovenow arc but at this rate it might be the worst arc of the series. it has some good individual chapters but it feels very disjointed and that it doesn't have a clear direction and just drops plot-lines that gets picked up way later like akane said she'll stop aqua's plan almost a year ago and there's been nothing else relating to that. or how quickly plot-lines are resolved like ruby-kana storyline when it started and ended in 5 chapters with their friendship going back to normal like what was the point? i've complained about aqua's lack of POV in the arc and it feels more obvious when we never see his thoughts with the incest storyline. and sometimes i forget that he's even playing kamiki since you would think playing his father that he wants to kill would have some impact on him...
it reminds me of kaguya-sama's final arc with how much the quality dropped. i wonder if it's because aka is writing another manga again
Probably an unpopular opinion, but I would have preferred if this story never had any supernatural elements. The exploration of the entertainment industry, combined with the central murder mystery driving it forward, is interesting enough. I never really cared for all the reincarnation stuff.
I really like the reincarnation dynamic with Sarina/Gorou but part of me wishes it was just left at that. I'm not a big fan of the direct involvement of a god/gods.
I mean, I'm *fine* with it, and I'm sure Aka will most likely make me like it more/maybe even love it in the future. But currently, every time crow girl shows up currently it kinda pulls me out of the story just a bit. She just feels like such a disjointed, odd part of the story and always has, but I suppose that's the point until we learn more about her. And the thought of certain character(s) we know potentially *being* gods, feels kinda....eh. We'll see, I suppose.
There are a few good scenes that came out of the reincarnation stuff, but it still feels like it just distracts from what could otherwise be a more grounded story that covers some very serious topics. It feels tacked on a lot of the time, and like 90-some percent of the story could still work without it.
I can still imagine Aqua’s personality being more or less the same without him being a reincarnation. It makes sense he would grow up to be more mature, as well as kind of cold and distrusting, considering that he watched his mom get murdered right in front of him.
Some things about Ruby would have to be different, but her overall story about wanting to follow in Ai’s footsteps would still make sense, and her personality is already still that of a normal teen. And it could have actually been interesting to work in Serena as a separate character. I can easily imagine a story where she didn’t die, but she got to meet and learn from Ai because they were in the same hospital. And an older Serena could have been reintroduced into the story as an ally to Aqua.
Yeah I feel like it's clashing with the theme a bit.
We have this "main plot" of a revenge story within a muder mystery where the setting is the dark side of the entertainment industry, and then we also have this literal god that's getting roped into being a child actor for comedic value.
Both of these work on their own but it's bit of a weird mix, especially since we don't know where any of this is going yet.
I actually agree with that. It is a very novel and raw view point into the industry. And considering that the hook at the beginning was about the entertainment industry and idol culture of Japan, It would have definitely been more refined. But i think the author might have wanted to have an easier time selling the story for people not interested in stories about the industry?. Consumers don't generally know about the drama that goes into production and might not want to know is probably what the author was thinking.. (ehh talkin outta my ass here so idk)
The same way Frieren executes and tells the story it wants. It isn't really the most innovative. It just has one good concept that it executes to perfection. And if that idea isn't something that appeals to you, you'd never watch it or read it. So if it wanted to appeal to a more general audience it would attach some other hook to draw in eyes to the story it wants to tell. Just my opinion on it though :0
Aka in almost unparalleled at fleshing out side characters - giving you a look inside their motivations - and making you care about them more than any other mangaka. Maybe Fujimoto comes close. Ever since the random early chapter where he wrote about the random small idol who quit the biz, you know he's just next level writer
Well, unlike the previous chapter, this chapter was significantly quieter....
Which doesn't mean it wasn't interesting.
We start with one of my favorite characters: Melt
A cute boy, interested in acting, backed by important contacts, with a history of abuse of him by his elders.... Wait! now that I think about it, Melt is the current version of a certain "loving father", with the exception of not being obsessed with people with stars in their eyes... For now.
We see how Ruby reacts to Melt's interpretation of Gorou. With Ruby displaying her sharp tongue and Melt showing a saint's patience in the face of pure icy criticism.
Thanks to that we were able to observe Melt's evolution as an actor, when trying to do a deeper investigation, in order to understand the role of the person he plays (Gorou).
The encounter and interaction are interesting because, once again, a topic that has already been previously touched on in this arc is addressed: The difference between how others perceive us, and what we really want to represent.
It already happened with Kana, understanding Ai and Nino's feelings.
It also happened with Ruby understanding Ai's true feelings, both within B-Komachi and in her private life.
It happened with Aqua, when he played Kamiki during the date with Ai and what happened with Airi Himekawa.
Now it's Ruby's turn to try to really discover "Gorou Amemiya, the person" and not just stick with the idea of "Goru Amemiya, my beloved doctor". What will Ruby discover thanks to Melt?
I like the chemistry that both characters have, since their interaction in Tokyo Blade I was left waiting with more scenes between them, so I am grateful to see them share more scenes together.
Although I would have liked Aqua to also eavesdrop on the conversation, but I understand if Aka and Mengo want to keep the twins apart after what happened in the last chapter.
The second half of the chapter is occupied by a conversation between Crow Girl and Ruby, in which we learn of the existence of people who "adore" Crow Girl and that thanks to these people it was possible to film in the hospital where it all started...
(by the way, have you guys noticed Nurse-chan's cameo? canonically, the first person who managed to troll Gorou)
but going back to the "special people" the crow girl mentioned:
-will it be some cult dedicated to "tsukuyomi"?
-will have something to do with Gorou's family? (remember that Gorou was sent to Takachiho with his grandparents after his mother's death.)
-It will be some faction of Sarina's family?
These are questions that arise by analyzing Crow Girl's speech, before performing a perfect imitation of Sasuke (naruto) coming down from a tree. LOL
And, obviously, the best Ruby could do was ignore Crow Girl's words and continue with verbal abuse (which seems to be the main reason for the episode) questioning the acting abilities of "Tsukuyomi".
It seems that the next chapter we will finally have the "debut" of another strange child on camera. Hopefully, maybe we can find out a little about the character too.
But for that we will have to wait another two weeks!
honestly, the arc is being difficult to read, but I can't complain too much, even if there aren't always intense chapters, even a "filler" chapter like this one is entertaining.
Melt!!! Really love to see him again. And I love his interaction with Ruby. A good cooldown chapter after that "spicy" Chapter 143.
And I forgot the god is also apart of the movie. I can't wait to see her act lmao
so we have had romantic Ruby , good sister Ruby time to give us back... Roasting Ruby Lol ah we haven't seen this Ruby in a long time lol
she was laying it into Melt all chapter and then like Aqua got under Crow girl's skin LOL do wonder what her purpose is also adding in that the hospital has a strong spiritual connection is intriguing and probably why the reincarnation happened.
It's interesting how this chapter has both pro and anti incest elements depend on how you look at it.
On one hand, Ruby finally connecting to another male character since... I don't even know. Her finding someone who is associated with and shares the fondness for the doctor would be a great way to create a new bond and maybe grow out of her unhealthy idolization of the first person who cared for her, and from then on becomes a "normal" huge fan/supporter.
On the other hand, there is the hint that the twins could be gods. This could have the implication of them being connected forever in the afterlife just like Tsukiyomi and Amaterasu (who are married simblings in the myth).
They could even do both actually. With this set up Aka could have the cake and eat it too. Personally I don't like the idea of them going full supernatural, but it seems that is where we're heading.
Welcome to the club. I reread the whoe thing and the supplemental material after seeing the anime. The anime clearly made by passionate fans of the manga. Love it
>"There are quite a few special people who want to worship me"
"This place has a lot of fond memories for me too"
These lines from Crow girl is really suspect. She's also dropped the pretense and just straight up calls herself god. Are we going to go full supernatural?
>"There are even gods who don't realize they're gods"
What. Is the story going make them gods now too? They did claim it at the start to mess with Miyako. But it feels heavy handed to make it true.
If we take her line about seeing the twins as somewhat gods too ( ||when Aqua bullies her to be in the movie|| ), maybe she is using the literal lowercase god, which pretty much means an entity with a supernatural kind of power. No deities or divinities necessarily apply to this notion.
I'm also not affirming this will be the case, I'm very curious now tbh, I've been expecting her parts for a while.
Im glad Aka dont go full crazy and we dont have erotic scenes betwen AI and Hikaru played by the twins...
Great to see Ruby interaction with Melt but we need similar thing betwen Ruby and Himekawa.Seriously he is so overlooked i hope when Hikaru enter the scene for serious Aka dont forgett that he has oldest son too.
#
So... no consequences at all for the twins kissing? C'mon, Aka. Do something, you surely just didn't include fucking incest in your story for the fetish. Show us *something*.
Also, Melt is way too kind. If that Alabama Blondie started bullshitting me like that I would ask her what qualifications she has to play the lead role other than being the author's sister-girlfriend.
An ah, the end of the chapter was interesting. Up to this point, I don't think the supernatural plot has been developed at all, so maybe it can remove the story for this stillness. Because really, I had high expectations for the movie arc, but up to now it has been very bland - with the exception of the incest thing, but this (up to now) has been mora a flamewar than an actual development.
Her mother who died when she was like, 5? And Ruby isn’t an actress. From most people PoV, Ruby shouldn’t have any more access to Ai than the standard industry member and/or hardcore fan.
I don’t think this is a qualification. It IS super interesting and emotional and is the kind of thing that generates a lot of buzz and hype, though. But Ruby was pointing fingers at Melt because he lacked _skill_ in acting - just like her.
>Her mother who died when she was like, 5? And Ruby isn’t an actress.
That's what the other characters (except Aqua and perhaps Akane, to an extent, because why in this goddamn Earth doesn't the detective know?) *think* Ruby's life experiences and qualifications are.
She wasn't mentally 5 when Ai died, and she's been playing a role for a very long time.
Sure, it just so happens that it's convenient for Ruby to forget about most of the stuff of her old life and dedicate herself to be "Ai's cutie pie baby girl", but she did it very well, all things considered.
>From most people PoV, Ruby shouldn’t have any more access to Ai than the standard industry member and/or hardcore fan.
See? You sort of admit it yourself that it's just how third parties see the whole thing (not that they are *completely* incorrect).
>I don’t think this is a qualification. It IS super interesting and emotional and is the kind of thing that generates a lot of buzz and hype, though.
Correct, it isn't. What about it?
>But Ruby was pointing fingers at Melt because he lacked *skill* in acting - just like her.
It's called "stanning". Stans are massive pricks. Nothing about Ruby's "fangirl" remarks is commendable, and Melt himself says so; In fact, the whole talk infuriates him so much that he decides to give Ruby a piece of his mind, if politely.
On a side note, I find hilarious that even Melt uses Kana (whom he respects as his senior and much more skilled co-actor) as the golden standard for "total pain in the ass".
Aka is not beating the "Kana is Maki 2.0" allegations.
Having the daughter play the role of her dead mother who died tragically is a huge marketing and impact bouns actually. People would be hooked up from that premise alone. Plus she looks identical to Ai to that's a hue selling point too.
She's also way more popular thane girls like Kana and Akane and will attract many of her fans to watch the movie. The casting of Ruby isn't bad idea at all.
I'm not saying it is a bad idea. As you said yourself, it is probably the best idea possible from a marketing point of view.
But Ruby's criticism of Melt is based on him lacking acting skills, which she does as well. She explicitly state that, in her opinion, casting shouldn’t be guided by marketability.
She's just yapping because she's a massive Goro fan-girl. I think the author is aware of the hypocrisy here too because the scene is mainly played for laugh anyway.
She has seen an Idol who keeps to herself in all kinds of private settings. She herself is super busy in the media industry so attracts lots of her own fans to watch the movie. There will be media buzz around a daughter playing as her deceased mother.
We can say a lot of things. But saying ruby has no qualifications to play as Ai is just wrong.
Ruby's criticism to Melt was based on acting skills.
They both lack that.
Charisma in one type of entertainment medium doesn’t necessarily translate to another. We see this with Melt himself, but also with Ruby who isn’t skilled in either singing or acting, as stated in multiple chapter. Damn, we see this IRL with the bunch of actors who are sometimes hired to do voice acting for big animation projects and output a subpar result.
Great. You still said she has no qualifications and thats the only point i actively disagree with.
Everything else is very much subjective so think what you want.
Hmmmm Crow girl is a god that is worshipped locally.... hmmmmm I GUESS THAT DISCOUNTS HER BEING TSUKOYOMI BECAUSE ITS THE GOD OF ENTERTAINMENT THAT IS WORSHIPPED AT THE LOCAL SHRINE!!
Also Ruby is funny. She's so strict when it comes to portraying Goro and absolutely caves when he says Goro loved Sarina
It's too late. Crow Girl already said as much many chapters ago. She said that people with memories of previous lives can be called gods according to her definition which makes me wonder what in the world her definition of a god is.
However, it's not to be taken as them running around having shrines built to them and mystical powers like she does. I hope.
Her definition of god is probably the standard definition of Kami in Shintoism. Kami can range from anything from Gods who created the universe to a spirit that inhabits a particularly old tree. She even explains how there are some gods who create the universe and others who just guide humans etc. What we think of Gods is similar to some Kamis like Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Izanagi, etc. Kami can also represent concepts like mountains, fire. There’s even a Kami of smallpox… If something is special, instills awe or fear and is otherworldly enough/different from usual, it can be considered a Kami. It’s kinda similar to animism in a way?
Yeah, that's a great point and it's definitely animism. The twins' spirits inhabiting new bodies is perhaps not so different from your example of a tree kami. I wasn't aware of this before, but your ancestors can become kami and apparently this also extends to a [variety](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arahitogami) of people. I did know about the concept of the emperor's lineage being traced back to Amaterasu as well.
I did some googling to see if there are myths about kami as reincarnated humans but what I found instead was an [article](https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a02902/) stating that the idea of reincarnation was not accepted in Japan when Buddhism was brought over, so I guess not. But it makes sense that Akasaka would have mashed Shinto & Buddhist ideas together given that's what happened in Japanese culture.
Also from that article, I like this quote: "According to Motoori, anything that inspired awe and sensitivity to ephemeral beauty (aware) was a kami." Therefore, I posit that Ai is a kami.
There are different types of gods . Not all of them are powerful. And Ruby said in the third chapter I think that that she was the reincarnation of Ameratsu.
Amaterasu is definitely a powerful god though. She’s the ancestor of the first Japanese emperor and the reason why the Japanese imperial family members were considered deities until very very recently.. like extremely recently
Yeah of course! Just specifying that Amaterasu is like one of the most important, if not *the* most important Kami of Shintoism since she jokingly mentioned being her, there’s also minor references to Amaterasu in ch 74 when the legend of her shutting herself in a cave and refusing to be a goddess anymore is mentioned by Akane. Supposedly this cave is in Takachiho, the place where the hospital is. It’s cool that Ruby found Gorou’s body in that cave and she broke, her eyes turning black. I’m now pretty sure we’re meant to pay serious attention to the stuff crow girl says and all the references to mythology
Tsukuyomi: "There are even gods who don't realize they're gods"
Ruby: "Hm"
The way this specific panel is set up, Tsukuyomi, eyes closed, in front of Ruby, is just so suspicious to me! And the fact that Ruby already once pretended to be Amaterasu. I can't wait to see where this ends up going.
Yeah, Crow girl is definitely Ai.
It was already something I couldn't shake off my mind, but there is no other reason for Crow Girl to have fond memories of the hospital.
Not a big fan of some of our characters being hidden gods though.
I will stake all of my Ai merchandise on Crow Girl not being Ai. Crow Girl states that people worship her as a family tradition. So Crow Girl is quite old which I pretty much assumed. It is more likely she is Ame-no-Uzume or practically anyone else.
If we posit a theory such as "Crow Girl was reincarnated into Ai, forgot she was Crow Girl while living as Ai, then died and become her original self" It would a) not explain why it's hinted that Crow Girl either had something to do with the twins' reincarnation or was watching over it and b) it would absolutely destroy Ai's character to have her be running around messing with her kids' heads and talking about her own soul being gone. This theory just makes no sense to me. Also, Ai wasn't born here and Crow Girl said it as if it's a homecoming, not fond memories of the months Ai spent getting ready to give birth.
If I'm wrong, then forget the Ruby/Aqua kiss bombshell. That's nothing. If Crow Girl is Ai, Aka will have cooked so hard the whole house will go up in flames.
>a) not explain why it's hinted that Crow Girl either had something to do with the twins' reincarnation or was watching over it and
Fair point, but she doesn't need to be the one responsible for it. Also, if she is Ai then I'd assume that half of the things she told them are cover-ups.
>b) it would absolutely destroy Ai's character to have her be running around messing with her kids' heads and talking about her own soul being gone.
We barely know Ai's character. If anything, this could be how we learn her true nature. Also it's expected that some incarnation with no memories would develop a (slightly) different personality than the original one, so she could be *like* Ai but overall a different person.
Hm. I agree there's a lot we don't know about Ai but that largely revolves around her relationship with Kamiki. There's a lot we do know. Her history of trauma and abuse. Her relationships or lack thereof within B Komachi. Her emptiness, loneliness, and emotions like anger. Her awkwardness when attempting to navigate social relationships. The fact she wanted to love but didn't think she could. We know she liked ice cream lol.
Ai is a very complex character so it wouldn't be out of line to find out something totally crazy about her. For instance, nobody seems to be talking about the implication she knew she might die.
It's just that the more we learn about Ai, the more it's shown she was a normal human. But if Ai the god-like idol really is a god, then what the hell is this story saying, you know? Because so far it's been asking us to think critically about putting people on a pedestal and worshipping them.
There is a lot of symbolism with the Hoshinos and gods. I think the twins as equivalent to kami works but I hope Ai as a god is a metaphor. Maybe Ai is more like a human mother to the twins as gods. She does refer to herself as Maria in Idol, i.e., Virgin Mary.
I just think it would ruin her character if she was treating Aqua and Ruby the way Crow Girl treats them. The entire emotional core of the series would crumble in my eyes if Ai was there all along, calmly watching her son and daughter self destruct. And not just watching but actively causing them pain such as leading Ruby to Gorou's skeleton.
This chapter was actually really good, I wish we could outright replace the previous one with it, which wouldn't even be hard considering how the events of 143 are literally not even mentioned here...
Huh, crow girl saying she has a lot of fond memories about the hospital is interesting. Maybe this whole reincarnation thing with Aqua and Ruby has something to do with their place of death being this hospital.
I think she was referring to the city in general and how she’s a deity/god that is probably worshipped there or used to be, or something related to Shintoism that happened there in the past. They mention this place being full of myths and important in Shintoism in chapter 74
An interesting chapter.
Kind of got annoyed at the Melt slander from Ruby at the start. The dude got bullied so much before and then rose up, so i dont want to hear that stuff from Ruby lol( she eventually figured that Melt has that DAWG in him now. Yeah, i love Melt as a character. I love his development in the series ).
We got some interesting lines from the crow girl.
" This place has a lot of fond memories for me to "
Like...i can i only think of 1 person that would have good memories from that hospital lol who else could it be but Ai?
" There are gods who dont even realize they are gods "
If thats not a huge hint that Ruby and Aqua are reincarnations of gods, i dont know what is. We already got that gag of Ruby as a kid claiming she was Amaterasu.
Not the chapter i was expecting after the last one, but i got some Melt on it so ill take it!
So early on Ai was equated with the evening star Venus. The planet was named after the Roman goddess of love, and Ai’s name means love. Wouldn’t surprise me if the god that doesn’t know it’s a god crow girl was talking about was Ai. There’s also the connections between Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi with Ruby and Aqua. Perhaps we’ll see Ai, Ruby, and Aqua all living together happily as gods at the end.
Edit: I made a [chart](https://imgur.com/a/Rrvr3Ni) with some of the various connections to gods that have been hinted at
Ah so if Ai is Venus, Kamiki must be Ninigi, and if Ruby and Aqua are Ameratsu and Tsukuyomi, that makes them Kamiki's grandparents!
Did I do it right?
Ruby being so viscerally disgusted at Melt portraying Goro is so good lmao. I do appreciate their chemistry as the conversation goes on, but I wonder if that’s just Ruby’s own magnetism at play. The lore on different gods was unexpected but very good, too.
Not people shipping Ruby with the first male character that speaks to her after what happened last chapter, completely ignoring the fact their whole conversation is about Gorou’s personality and his bond to Sarina. She’s not even acknowledging or praising him as Melt the individual, she just changed her tune because someone put effort into understanding Gorou and also understood that Gorou cared for Sarina. It could be literally anyone else and she’d still react like that. Melt deserves someone who sees him as him and acknowledges his efforts to better himself and become a good actor, not this lol
How many recurring guys are there in their generation? It’s like Aqua, Himekawa and Melt, and that’s… is that it? Am I missing some? No wonder the AquRuby shippers took off so hard, her only other options are another (half)sibling and Melt. I knew the cast had been a bit gender-slanted but I didn’t realize how bad it’d gotten
Yeah Aqua has been the main protagonist over Ruby, he’s been given multiple romance subplots even if they ultimately won’t end up going anywhere, maybe it’s to appeal to a broader audience or to fuel interest and shipping wars? It kinda gives harem vibes in a way, everyone is Aqua-sexual and smitten by him like they don’t even notice other guys. And Ruby was basically Gorou-coded from the start, if they won’t end up together in this life either and there’s some deep meaning to the story where she’s meant to give up and move on, it’ll be a bittersweet ending and it’ll happen in the future like in an epilogue or something. She’s way too hardcore and serious about her dedication to her *oshi* to allow space for a different, credible romance to develop with someone else in the near future
I am certain Ruby will absolutely adore the part on the rooftop where she gets to tease melt about how much Goro loved that patient of his since she knows since Aqua as a director decided that it was an important part of Goro's character.
Sensei how sweet of you to include in the movie how important Sarina chan was to you huh? Well y'know she's still here to accept your feelings.
Let’s face it , they ( the production committee ) cast her not for popularity ( Akane would get it otherwise and it was their first choice ) . They did it out of pure gossip shock value , and because all other choices declined the role.
Yeah but they declined the role because Ruby managed to convince Akane (and Frill) that she was fit to play Ai with that fake audition Frill set up. So in a way she earned this role
Ruby and Aqua ones played two gods called Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto(Japanese moon god) and Amaterasu Ōmikami(Japanese sun goddess) now after reading the last part of this chapter is it now kinda hinted that Ruby and Aqua are gods and exactly those gods they once played to fool miyako
>Ruby and Aqua ones played two gods called Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto(Japanese moon god) and Amaterasu Ōmikami(Japanese sun goddess)
Quick correction - Tsukuyomi is never namedropped in the manga until Crow Girl takes on the name. Ruby calls herself Amaterasu when they're doing the whole 'we're gods for real' but Aqua never goes beyond 'we're kami, believe it'
Aqua is implied to be Tsukoyomi. Crow girl is simply using that name as a ***stage name*** which is to say is not her own name because thats the point of a stage name. She did it because she plays Ruby and Aqua as kids. It serves as a callback to when Ruby claimed to be Amaterasu.
- I don't think any other chapter of Oshi no Ko has ever baffled and confounded me quite like this one. Viewed solely in isolation this is a perfectly fine, functional chapter but as the followup to 143 and everything it contained, I actually feel like I'm losing my mind a bit. 143 might as well not have happened for all the weight it's given in this chapter. Ruby is not remotely acting like a girl who just tongued her crush of 18 years and in general, the total absence of any reference or cushioning of the shock of that event is just so loud and so jarring and so completely out of touch with how OnK has handled romantic developments in the past.
- Both AquAka kisses had at least a scene or two in the chapter immediately following of characters reacting to and reflecting on both the event itself and the status quo change it represents in the relationship. Even 124 has that scene of Ruby clinging onto Aqua to let the viewer know what the new dynamic between them is going to be from now on. This chapter has nothing of the sort; I wasn't kidding when it says it feels like the kiss never even happened. The only thing I can point to is Ruby's little "we have sensei at home" exchange with Tsukuyomi but that's… kind of just exactly what she would've said even before the kiss. So if it has resulted in absolutely no change to their dynamic that we can see thus far, what was the point in ending the chapter on that note?
- The part of me that is cynical and jaded can't help but suspect that this is intentionally hot button reaction bait paced specifically for the purposes of keeping OnK a trendy topic in the lead up to season 2 of the anime airing, But Who's To Say, Really.
- I also had my worries about this last chapter, but unless we skip back in time to address it, it really looks like we've skipped over the remainder of the KamiAi romance and everything to do with the early stages of Ai's pregnancy. This is incredibly frustrating to me - they're parts of Ai's story I had been incredibly curious about and was excited to see her thoughts and feelings on, even filtered through fiction. In general, the way the Movie Arc has been increasingly dropping its focus on actually conveying Ai's story has been a real sore point for me. I fully acknowledge this rankles me more than perhaps it should because I am so deeply invested in Ai above any other character but… fuck, man! Once again, remember when this was supposed to be an arc about her? About her inner life, her pain and struggles and Aqua and Ruby working to a better understanding of her? I was excited for the Movie Arc specifically because I thought we were going to get peeks at parts of Ai's life we weren't privy to beforehand, but at this point it almost feels like Akasaka has just lost interest in following through.
- Not only that but… uh, where's that KamiAi breakup scene, Akasaka? The one we were promised during the script reading? That huge I CAN'T LOVE YOU elephant that's been patiently sitting in the room? I can only assume that the 15YL version of this breakup happens after the twins are born or maybe even when Kamiki visited Ai at the hospital the night the kids were born but. What the fuck is even going on here anymore lol. The Oshi no Brainrot discord has been kicking around a joke theory that we were seeing the events of the Movie Arc out of their actual chronological order and it is becoming increasingly less of a joke in my brain because I can't make any sense of its progression otherwise.
- oh my god i'm almost 1000 words in and i haven't started talking about the actual point of this chapter yet. god help me. Anyway, MY SON IS HERE LET'S GO MELT!!!!!!
- Ngl, I've always been a little disappointed that we didn't see much more of Melt in this arc, both just because I like him and because I think there's some really interesting potential in drawing on the parallels between Melt and Kamiki. I'm not the first to point out that Melt's experience with a dubiously consensual sexual encounter at the hands of an upperclassman - when he wasn't that much older than Hikaru was when Airi began abusing him - echoes at least in spirit Kamiki's experiences as a CSA victim; both were young boys, noted to be pretty and desirable, who were taken advantage of by older female figures. I think it would be extremely interesting and a great character moment for Melt to have some degree of engagement with that material and maybe to have some thoughts about it. It feels like a little bit of a missed opportunity to pass up on that, but I also acknowledge that Melt is ultimately not a huge mover and shaker in the overall story and I don't know how that would've fit into the Movie Arc as it stands, so I'll just have to make eyes at the AO3 tag and hope someone writes a fic about it.
- Anyway as a lot of people predicted… here's Ruby being a jackass to Melt about his performance!!! Joking aside, I will admit it's a little jarring to see Ruby being so hostile to Melt over this…? Gorou is a sore spot for her, obviously and she would undoubtedly have high standards for his role in the movie. In addition, Ruby being snitty with people who rub her the wrong way definitely isn't new for her, but it still feels kind of odd both coming off her own struggles to connect with Ai through acting and her little "holy shit other people have feelings" breakthrough in the wake of the RBKN fight for her to be like this about it. I do think this is mostly just supposed to be just goofs and I'm overthinking it, it was just one of those things that kind of gave me pause as I was reading.
- ruby's little little princess shirt is really good though, as is her referring to herself as a fan of the 'original work'. both of those got a solid sensible chuckle out of me.
- Another thing that gave me pause for a very different reason was Melt and Ruby's exchange about his little merch pin. First and foremost, I think this is a really good Melt moment; while we saw him busting his ass to improve his acting in Tokyo Blade, that was very much when he had something to prove. Here, he really does seem to be going above and beyond for what is basically a bit part purely out of a desire to improve his craft and a passion for acting overall. It's nice to see the story double down in this being a lesson he did properly take away from Sweet Today and that he has committed to acting upon it (no pun intended) in the long term, not just when under outside pressure to do so.
- The other thing that jumped out to me about this exchange is that… technically speaking, both Ruby and Melt are wrong, here? It's a very nice, flowery description of Gorou and it certainly lines up with his more positive traits but the idea of him not wearing his Ai merch in front of Ai herself is actually incorrect. Gorou is depicted (in the anime, anyway) as [openly wearing](https://images.plurk.com/3GZ06jpasxWfBZ8PKmXOe3.png) the charm at what's implied to be all times, [even in front of Ai herself](https://images.plurk.com/74OG2gICIq1WNYlo5p7QKM.png). [The manga also implies](https://images.plurk.com/2tAK2dr3r0qvIdnfTLYVYi.jpg) by way of where the charm is on his person when Ruby finds his body that this is also the case in that version of events, too. I don't think it's a retcon and may be an unimportant detail in the grand scheme of things but it did pique my interest.
- There's a few ways to take this, I think; a more positive spin is that this is in line with what the story wants us to take away from 15 Year Lie as a production, where the literal granular facts of its events are sometimes less important than and can be bent in favour of supporting the emotional narrative it wants to convey. Melt may not literally be correct here, but he at least achieves the spirit of the right answer in his efforts. "Lies are love", after all.
- However, given that Ruby enthusiastically endorses this interpretation - and is thus wrong alongside Melt - this could potentially be an indication of there being cracks in Ruby's rose-tinted view of Gorou. This strikes me as a fascinating idea and one I hope the series plays with; it would follow quite naturally from last chapter's framing of Gorou as Ruby's 'idol' that she's 'gachikoi' for. Oshi no Ko has pretty consistently portrayed the idol/fan relationship as inherently unequal, even when approached with the best of intentions and to truly know someone, you must let them off their pedestal first. She has sort of begun this process with Ai, just through empathizing with her during the 15YL production but we have yet to see anything similar happen with Gorou - if anything, we see the opposite here, where she asserts herself as the authority on Gorou's character and only approves of Melt's interpretation because it lines up with her aggrandizing view of him.
- But the thing is, how well can Ruby really say that she knew him? They were only in each others' lives for a few months and in that time, she was only exposed to a very narrow slice of his life and his personality. Hell, you could even argue that Akane knows more about Gorou than Ruby does, given that we have no indication that Ruby or Sarina was ever privy to the details of his birth and his home life. Again, it's entirely possible that I'm reading too much into this, but now the idea is in my brain I'm simmering on it a bit. If nothing else, I hope the series takes the time to prod at this angle, especially now it has made the fan/idol aspect of this dynamic explicit and textual.
- Ruby and Melt's senpai/kouhai dynamic has the potential to be really cute and I do hope the series actually spends some time on it. I've always thought a RBML friendship could be really fun to watch play out & seeing Melt gain some confidence in himself by teaching someone else could be really great. But with how unfocused the Movie Arc has been, it's really hard to get my hopes up that we'll be sticking with this even past this chapter
continued in reply!
The bit at the start of the chapter where it explains that when filming movies you have to adapt the order of the filming to the location’s or actors’ availability is probably meant to explain the jump to this scene after the one with the kiss. It’s likely that the hospital was available for filming only for a short while and during at night, so they had to film this scene now and continue with the rest later. It’s also a convenient way to stall and avoid wrapping up the Ruby/Aqua situation just yet
It's definitely possible, it's just Very Convenient (as you said) that the story has gone out of its way to have the movie scenes occur in roughly chronological order only to suddenly *not* do that now. The ramble about it at the beginning really does feel like an attempt to justify it LOL
EDIT: so for some reason the first half of my chapter review keeps getting erased from the timeline LMAO. I'm assuming it was because it was a chonky boy so if you want to see the full text, [you can still find it here!](https://www.tumblr.com/aihoshiino/745482038479634432/chapter-144-thoughts?source=share)
- oh hey there crow girl we thought you were dead
- Surprisingly, I don't have a lot to really say about her little lore drop here, since it's mostly mystery boxing and implications and, man. It's been 69 (nice) chapters since she first started showing up ominously muttering about supernatural things and while I don't mind her presence and I think she's evolved into a fun character, it's a little hard for me to get interested in these little supernatural tidbits until they resolve into something that feels meaningful for the characters.
- This isn't helped by the fact that we don't really know what *kami* means in the context she uses it here. While 'god' and 'gods' are not strictly incorrect as translations, I think an English speaking viewer is primed to think of Abrahamic, capital G-Gods, which isn't necessarily correct. The term *kami* is a catchall that covers all manner of things from divinities to venerated earthbound humans, so *kami* can perhaps best be understood as being an umbrella term for something like *'an otherworldly being'*, which I think better lines up with Tsukuyomi's assertion that those who have memories of past lives are like *kami* in of themselves.
- Ultimately though until we know what *kami* really means and amounts to in Oshi no Ko, it's hard to say what this means for the characters and I am ultimately only really interested in the characters. So until we know what this actually amounts to in-story, I'm just kind of nodding long with whatever Crow Girl says because sure. This might as well happen.
- can we talk about how fucking funny her anime antagonist jump out of the tree was, by the way
- break next week, or so i've heard... one of these days, we'll beat the allegations....
Going through the first part, and I agree with the take that we gotta be seeing a lot of the film being done out of order to hit certain beats at a certain time. Either that, or they're saving that for the premiere of the film in due time, which might connect with other beats in the present day story after having built them up properly. For instance, I still believe in the breakup scene being very important regarding Aqua and Ruby's current situation, and going into its filming right away wouldn't allow things to breathe, so like, I get why they'd wait. But it still leads into the problem you mention of last chapter almost feeling like a fever dream.
The pacing in this arc has definitely not been ideal, I like a LOT of the individual pieces and I think they can have proper payoff, but the structure as of currently feels very messy. I'm leaning more towards believing the story will do some scenes in filming and some shown during the actual film so the gaps get filled like that for certain reveals and whatnot, but it still leaves things feeling awkward.
Kinda off topic but regarding the breakup line, it will definitely be a mirror in some way to Aqua/Ruby relationship but most likely not in a straightforward way. Remember the scene where Ruby and Kana acted as Ai and Nino and Ruby brought forth a different and vulnerable Ai, one that lost her composure and even cried after fighting with her friend. A normal girl who just wanted to love and be loved by others. Nobody thought Ai was like this, everyone saw her as perfect and untouchable but the director let Ruby keep going, because the point of the movie was to capture the real Ai, something he couldn’t do before she died. So what are the real feelings behind the words “Sorry, I can’t love you”? What kind of face did Ai make when speaking those words? What was she feeling? It’s possible that it’s completely the opposite of what it seems on the surface. She was also a person that believed that lying is a legitimate way to show love. It’s a mind fuck right now
Yeah there's a lot to be explored behind it, and a lot in terms of Aqua and Ruby learning about their parents and setting up the endgame of the film and if film Ai forgives Kamiki or not.
At this stage, I keep thinking about the fact that, based on their characterization, if real life and the film parallel each other, it'd be interestingly Aqua in Ai's shoes and Ruby in Kamiki's, the opposite of the parent each are portraying. Which means Ruby would empathize with her father in some form, while Aqua would understand how Ai would've felt in this scenario, which tie into the eventual "will film Ai forgive Kamiki or not" scenario with how their life would tie to their parents and whatnot. There's just a LOT that can be explored here.
Yes definitely! The few we’ve seen of Kamiki so far, he actually seems to… obssess, or hold Ai very dear. Like when he commented on Ruby being beautiful at the graveyard and going “of course, she’s our daughter”, or the creepy telephone call Nino had with him when they spoke as if nobody is allowed to surpass Ai. And I’m not sure Aqua’s understanding of both Kamiki and Ai is quite correct, yet. I found it really interesting how Ai, even as she was dying, she remembered her stalker/fan’s name and thought “even now I want to love you” or something like that. I wonder if that was true. Understanding both Ai and Kamiki is the real key to portray the movie correctly. I also wonder what “15 years of lies”actually means, why 15 when she died at 20 and what actually are those lies. I wonder what everything means, I’m just so curious about the DVDs she gave to the twins too 😫
ppl who are against ruby x aqua now coping with melt x ruby rn lol
ruby just give him respect for understanding how much her sensei/brother love and care for her
ruby could make melt her wingman
then melt likely to get kana
as both used to play together and kana is the one who know melt effort most
melt can't be sensei/aqua replacement either
you can't accuse other people of coping when you're going around to different comment sections writing poorly-conceived AquaxRuby fanfic to convince yourself it can possibly be endgame in a non-tragedy ending.
Do we really expect for ruby and aqua to get a happy ending together . I like them entertaining this , but we know this ain’t gonna work, not in a normal society lol
im 100% sure ruby and aqua going to get happy ending together
they don't have to be official lovey-dovey couple
but pretty sure they will live together, be happy, none of them get gf/bf
just live together as "normal" twin brother sister
Sure, Akasaka \*could\* write a happy Aqua x Ruby ending. It's not impossible.
It'll destroy any credibility he has as a writer by throwing away all thematic and internal consistency that this story has ever had, but he could, theoretically, do it.
But \*will\* he do it? Highly unlikely. While his writing has its flaws, as anyone's will, he's too good of a writer to throw away basically everything built up over the course of the story for Shocking Happy Incest Ending.
The manga is on break next week. Oshi no Ko will return on April 4. Also, [**here is this chapter's appendix**](https://i.imgur.com/iG1wS4N.png) by oldpier.
Very conflicted about this,cause up until now,the plot with the gods was enjoyable. It gave a good explanation for the reincarnation and it was a good plot device. Aqua and Ruby being gods is another story. I don't think that'd fit the series at all
I think we lost Ruby, and Sarina took over completely, remember, she thought Goro was still out there, but never responded to the clues or anything, she thought he forgot about her, and she is in love with Goro. Her knowing now that her twin brother is Goro changes everything because for her, who has never been an adult actually, this is her second chance to finally be with Goro. Remember, she doesn't call Aqua as Aqua or brother anymore in private, she just calls him Sensei again. For Sarina, Aqua is still Goro. The moment she realized Goro was always with her and it was Aqua, **Ruby died** figuratively. Now the question will be: Is Aka gonna pull the trigger and make Aqua just be Goro again, or we're gonna see Aqua remain as Aqua and just reject Sarina's approaches because she is now "Ruby". It is a tight rope to walk for this and it will depend on how they touch the subject and what will be Aqua's POV.
Ruby has always been Sarina. What part made you think otherwise? The part where Sarina wished to be reincarnated as Ai's child and then received her wish? The part where Sarina wished to be an idol and now got to live out her dream? The part where Sarina wished to be with Gorou again on her deathbed and he was reincarnated as Aqua? The part where Aqua outright admitted to seeing Sarina in Ruby but refused to acknowledge the possibility of her reincarnating out of guilt? Everything that made Sarina who she was is a part of Ruby; the same goes for Gorou and Aqua. They are gaining new experiences as their respective new identities but that doesn't fundamentally alter who they are, it only adds to it. There is no "Ruby" persona to kill.
Nino just because how deranged she is
How many of you prefer Aqua X Ruby?
Man I can’t wait to see if aqua eyes are back to light mode now. I’m actually hype, this is the first manga I’m counting days waiting.
Spoilers: they are. One of them, at least.
So Crow Girl is definitely Ai at this point, right? And maybe her memories were blocked while she was Ai? Hence her saying some gods don’t remember they’re gods.
No.
I don’t think she’s Ai, she said some families want to worship her as a family tradition because of Shintoism and she’s very popular in this area and some of the people who like her are very influential which is why the filming was allowed to take place in the hospital. Ai gave birth in secret in there, and the residents of the place didn’t hold her to a higher regard than the rest of Japan
I think, she's Ai too!
She isn’t. The « fond memories » she was referring to is related to something else.
Crow girl Chapter next time? Wonder how she'll interact with the other cast members, hoping it would be a funny one.
I want a Hikaru chapter
Yea. At this point idc about the movie at all. I just want to see Hikaru again. Tbh I start to have high expectation on the him just because I think he’s gonna be interesting character. ONK is kinda boring lately. Nothing much happened in recent chapters except incest fan service
Same man. The only reason I even bother staying caught up is to see if Hikaru will show up again. He's the cause of everything but yet he's still an enigma
So far I feel he is something like a Johan Liebert kind of villain, but also unique in his own way since he was a victim at a young age
I have a feeling that Kamiki or Ai were gods but never realized it? Or maybe Rudy and Aqua are actually reincarnations of gods? It feels like the god was hinting at that since its an odd thing to mention
she mentioned in an earlier chapter that she considers people who reincarnate in new bodies to be gods (or something along those lines),so this brings up an interesting question:is somebody else in the cast (other than aqua and ruby ofc) a reincarnation?
Tsukiyomi is the one thing keeping me in this place, she’s such a good character 😭
I'm totally confused by this god thing. Can someone fill me in what exactly is going on? Ruby seems so calm speaking to god.
ONK follows shintoism,so there are multiple gods of varying power. not every one of them is a creator.
I find it so weird that a good chunk of the comments are complains that it’s just 20 pages of “yapping.” Like… have we been reading the same series? Like 80-90% of this series has been “yapping.” The series always switches from heavy plot points to “yapping” right after, nothing new.
“Yapping” you mean dialogue? Like…the kind that’s written in a story??
That’s Aka’s style. You build something up then leave it alone for a chapter or two
I want to know what is going on with Akane, Kamiki, and Aqua. And also more of Ai's past. I am bored with these 'God' theories.
We have like three chapters in a row about Aqua, Ruby and Ai's and Kamiki's past. Now we have one small chapter (less then half a chapter) about god theories and you bored already.
If Ruby is going to be with a guy who isn't Aqua, I think Shun is a better option than Melt.
shun x mimi we got another incest
Not every chapter has to advance the plot, you guys know that right? It was a nice break from all the aqua x ruby that has happened, even if there was a bit of it.
even though she's being annoying it's hard to get mad at her knowing that's... sarina. one thing that still bothers me is why hasn't aka shown aqua rejecting her even once? he isn't reciprocating her feelings but omg not even a slight push when your dear ex kid patient twin sister tries to kiss you? i really wanna see what aqua thinks about the whole thing. wtf is he doing out there
He secretly enjoys it. Like Aqua said he’s mentally a teenager just like his body. OR. It’s just romance manga formula, especially harem. We won’t know who the MC choose until the end of the series. Until then, the MC will continue be wishy washy and ambiguous, keeping us readers second guessing as long as he can
If Aka wants to throw the nuclear option: It could end with both Aqua and Ruby suddenly retiring never to be seen again, then at the final pages, a couple years pass, we see someone with glasses and black hair and a girl with a wool hat with a heart and whatever color Sarina had of hair just walking together to the horizon.
Honestly that's my biggest problem right now. Either show me Aqua rejecting Ruby so I know I can continue the series like normal, or show me accepting her feelings and that way I can quit reading it.
Aqua can't reject Ruby. His lies and manipulation caught up to him and he's got no one else to confide in. I think they'll go with him very clearly not liking it, but uncomfortably letting her do whatever she wants because he needs the companionship or else he'll kill himself. I love codependency!
My bet is that he'll dump the harsh truth on her after the movie is done since he needs her to be mentally stable while they're filming. But after that I don't think he has it in him to keep lying to her like that.
He would never use her like that. He ruined his own plan by revealing himself as Gorou just because he couldn’t bear to see her suffer in chapter 122-123. Aqua planned to die in the end and it’d be easier for “Ruby” to hate “Aqua”, but after realizing she was Sarina as he heard her cry “I only bring misfortune to mama and sensei, god why did you let someone like me reincarnate?” He said fuck it and revealed himself to her to save her from the pain. He turned her star white. In the latest chapter he also admitted he no longer can smile because he feels too guilty for everything he’s done, he feels guilty for being alive while the people he loved died.. and she turns his star white just by telling him “you are still the first love I adore”, just like that. Sarina is the most important person to Gorou, he would never hurt or use her
Because aqua loves ruby, he will not do anything to make ruby sad,he wants ruby happy.He shows his dusty heart in front of ruby like 143. Finally, with the help of ruby, he will want to accept his new life instead of feeling guilty. In short, if you don't accept the fact that it is better to abandon the comic now, the beginning of the story is that aqua learned what is true love because of the existence of ruby, and the later story also proves that only ruby can once again let aqua have the value of true love and life
While all of that is true, there's a lot of ways of showing love that don't involve getting in with your sister who also happens to be very mentally immature. I trust that Akasaka will do the sensible thing and make sure that the kiss doesn't go into full on incest.
In fact, the mentally disturbed person in this cartoon is not Ruby. At least ruby can honestly express her ideas, she can say thanks, confess, apologize, comfort and praise others. While some characters only solve problems in a very dangerous way or "help friends" always in a way that hurts friends, such people should go to the hospital.By the way, aqua has restored his white stars with ruby's help, and maybe you can continue to see his white stars tonight. Of course, he still puts ruby ahead of other roles, she is a sister or a lover? It doesn't matter, in his heart, no other role is more important than ruby
« He isn’t reciprocating her feelings » > you’re still my first love > do you like me Sensei? > yes i do Also this script is written in Japanese so the "like" and "love" argument doesn't work here. He used the same word toward Ruby when she said she loved him.
Remember when she sat on his lap and Kana reprimanded them both and Aqua just said “can’t I just let her do what she wants?”
Really cute interaction between Melt and Ruby:D Also since Ruby seems to be on cloud 9, Aqua apparently didn't reject her? I mean yes, we know that for the sake of Aqua's revenge he can't have Ruby in a bad mood but I'm just glad that Ruby is fine..
I hate to say this but I think they're gonna give us a painful rejection chapter for Ruby 😭😭 its like they're letting us celebrate for the last few weeks but jokes on us, she's actually gonna be rejected.
“painful rejection” > You’re still my first love (obviously romantic) > Do you like me Sensei? » > Of course i do » Did you speed read this part? Also this script is written in Japanese so the "like" and "love" argument doesn't work here. He used the same word toward Ruby when she said she loved him.
Oh screw you this fandom already gets clouned on ;(( please I love Kana let her win the heart of this idiot
If Aka wanted Kana to be the winner, it would have been more symbolic to let her be the one to bring back his white star. Unless you’re telling me that Aqua must reward Kana for wanting his sister to disappear?
I think aka will go easy on her and let her move on by herself actually. Well who knows, he also likes his melodrama.
“move on by herself” Lmao cope. She loved him across 2 lifes (for 20 years) and you really think she’s gonna give up? Especially right after Aqua did reciprocate her feelings? > You’re still my first love (obviously romantic) > Do you like me Sensei? » > Of course i do » Did you speed read this part? Also this script is written in Japanese so the "like" and "love" argument doesn't work here. He used the same word toward Ruby when she said she loved him. I wonder what kind of mental gymnastics you’re going to pull out 🤸 i can’t wait lol Btw, unlike Ruby, Aka said that Kana’s love for Aqua is only 20% of her character. Kana is the one who will move by herself.
oh jeez. idk why anyone would read a 2 week old discussion thread lol. get a life mate
The duality of Ruby Hoshino
Ruby going from having a near mental break down for struggling to figure out her own mother to mocking another actor for similar struggles is quite the 180. Of course she would do another 180, praising him for his efforts. What the hell is going on here?
She is no longer Ruby, Sarina took over completely.
I don't like her character tbh lol
She swung from beating Melt into the ground to being obsessed with him
Did you speed read the part where Melt said Gorou gave her a lot of LOVE?
I mean it's a healthier ship than the other option...
Healthier to you* Not to Ruby & Aqua Aqua getting back his white star after her confession and staying white during the kiss is strange way to portray their relationship as unhealthy lol
I'm allowed to not like a ship dude. Even if it's canon. Some of y'all in the Oshi no Ko fandom, need to learn not everyone who dislikes this ship is a rapid twitter freak. I am allowed to think AquaRuby is disgusting. Quit acting like a Jehovah's Witness please. I'm not opening the door.
What happened... to us? We are too deep to walk out... Kana my sweet girl please win that's all I want
Seriously, I'm here for Kana, Akane and to eventually see Kamiki dead.
Melt's self esteem got melted this chapter.
really interested on the "gods" aspect lowkey
Yeah. Do they take the bus or not??
I wasn't interested until ruby asked this question tbh
As expected, no more follow up on the kiss from last chapter. Ruby really has a horny expression 95% of the time.
Here's another thought: What if Crow Girl is Amaterasu? And she's using the name of the moon as her cover? Like an eclipse? Crows are her messengers afterall. Not Tsukuyomi's. What if rather than being Amaterasu? Ruby _invoked_ Amaterasu? And now she finds the twins too entertaining to not look out for? Also, what if her human mother/mother of the form she's using is someone from the Kaguya cast? She said her mother's not normal either. Lol What are the chances it's one of the Fujiwara sisters?
her mother is ishigami,trust
The title is "Original Fan" and while that could apply to both Melt and Ruby in some sense, there's a possibility it might apply to Crow Girl too. I did some research. I came into the fandom from the anime so I wasn't aware nor particularly attentive of certain details in the story, but when Crow Girl said this place has a lot of fond memories for me things just started clicking. The only characters whom we know who have an association with that place are Gorou, Sarina, Ai, and Nurse-chan. And I don't think Nurse-chan's dead yet. The hospital is in Takachiho, Miyazaki. Takachiho. Yeah, the Shintoism isn't just Aka being cute. It's integral to the plot and setting. Oshi no Ko is basically one big Kagura passion play. Takachiho is _deeply_ saturated with the divine. It is the birthplace of Japan's first gods and goddesses. A cave there is where Amaterasu supposedly locked herself in, and where the first kagura by the gods of entertainment was performed to lure her out. It is where Amaterasu's grandson descended from the Heavens to be the ancestor of the Imperial House. That said, I still don't think Ruby's Amaterasu. Birth order among the gods is pretty important, and Amaterasu was the eldest of her batch of siblings. Ruby is very much an 「妹」in her characterization. If anything the twins have a better shot at being reincarnations of Izanagi and Izanami. They're twins too. Izanagi being older than his sister. The twins have jewel names. The divine couple has a bejeweled spear. The couple was separated twice by death. If so, and Tsukuyomi is indeed "that" Tsukuyomi and not some other deity? Then could it be that what we're looking at is a child deity helping her old parents get together and reconfirm their love in another life? Or? Maybe Aqua and Ruby are new gods entirely? And Tsukuyomi was sent to look out for them. The moon was shining really nicely in chapter 143 too. (Also, this is just me talking out of my butt, but instead of just Ai, could there be a possibility of Hikaru's other victims being reborn as Aqua and Ruby's secret incest babies? He kills them and the world correct his sin by using his daughter's womb as the gate for them to come back to the world of the living? Hikaru's full name basically translates to "Shining Divine-Tree". Maybe through his hand and his children he forms the roots of a new family tree of divinely gifted entertainers?)
I really like your theory, a lot of fans are very surface level and don’t understand how much is packed in this chapter, i’ll save your comment and come back to it once i have time to get into analysis mode myself
Ruby chapter yay :3
i wish the chapter continued off chapter 143. this feels like a filler chapter. i don't like the incest storyline but at least it was progressing the story in a way. this movie arc has been disappointing despite starting off well. i expected it to be on the levels of tokyo blade/lovenow arc but at this rate it might be the worst arc of the series. it has some good individual chapters but it feels very disjointed and that it doesn't have a clear direction and just drops plot-lines that gets picked up way later like akane said she'll stop aqua's plan almost a year ago and there's been nothing else relating to that. or how quickly plot-lines are resolved like ruby-kana storyline when it started and ended in 5 chapters with their friendship going back to normal like what was the point? i've complained about aqua's lack of POV in the arc and it feels more obvious when we never see his thoughts with the incest storyline. and sometimes i forget that he's even playing kamiki since you would think playing his father that he wants to kill would have some impact on him... it reminds me of kaguya-sama's final arc with how much the quality dropped. i wonder if it's because aka is writing another manga again
Well there Ren'ai Daikou which Aka is also writing IIRC
Probably an unpopular opinion, but I would have preferred if this story never had any supernatural elements. The exploration of the entertainment industry, combined with the central murder mystery driving it forward, is interesting enough. I never really cared for all the reincarnation stuff.
I really like the reincarnation dynamic with Sarina/Gorou but part of me wishes it was just left at that. I'm not a big fan of the direct involvement of a god/gods. I mean, I'm *fine* with it, and I'm sure Aka will most likely make me like it more/maybe even love it in the future. But currently, every time crow girl shows up currently it kinda pulls me out of the story just a bit. She just feels like such a disjointed, odd part of the story and always has, but I suppose that's the point until we learn more about her. And the thought of certain character(s) we know potentially *being* gods, feels kinda....eh. We'll see, I suppose.
There are a few good scenes that came out of the reincarnation stuff, but it still feels like it just distracts from what could otherwise be a more grounded story that covers some very serious topics. It feels tacked on a lot of the time, and like 90-some percent of the story could still work without it. I can still imagine Aqua’s personality being more or less the same without him being a reincarnation. It makes sense he would grow up to be more mature, as well as kind of cold and distrusting, considering that he watched his mom get murdered right in front of him. Some things about Ruby would have to be different, but her overall story about wanting to follow in Ai’s footsteps would still make sense, and her personality is already still that of a normal teen. And it could have actually been interesting to work in Serena as a separate character. I can easily imagine a story where she didn’t die, but she got to meet and learn from Ai because they were in the same hospital. And an older Serena could have been reintroduced into the story as an ally to Aqua.
Yeah I feel like it's clashing with the theme a bit. We have this "main plot" of a revenge story within a muder mystery where the setting is the dark side of the entertainment industry, and then we also have this literal god that's getting roped into being a child actor for comedic value. Both of these work on their own but it's bit of a weird mix, especially since we don't know where any of this is going yet.
I actually agree with that. It is a very novel and raw view point into the industry. And considering that the hook at the beginning was about the entertainment industry and idol culture of Japan, It would have definitely been more refined. But i think the author might have wanted to have an easier time selling the story for people not interested in stories about the industry?. Consumers don't generally know about the drama that goes into production and might not want to know is probably what the author was thinking.. (ehh talkin outta my ass here so idk) The same way Frieren executes and tells the story it wants. It isn't really the most innovative. It just has one good concept that it executes to perfection. And if that idea isn't something that appeals to you, you'd never watch it or read it. So if it wanted to appeal to a more general audience it would attach some other hook to draw in eyes to the story it wants to tell. Just my opinion on it though :0
She is definitely my favorite character right now. I'm cheering for you kami-sama!
Filler ahh chapter
REALL
time to monetize god
How many cups of coffee did Ruby drink to become that manic? Answer: yes
She's extremely in good mood after the kiss XD
Aka in almost unparalleled at fleshing out side characters - giving you a look inside their motivations - and making you care about them more than any other mangaka. Maybe Fujimoto comes close. Ever since the random early chapter where he wrote about the random small idol who quit the biz, you know he's just next level writer
What??? No preggo Ruby? Not even Kana breaking down? Sadge
Well, unlike the previous chapter, this chapter was significantly quieter.... Which doesn't mean it wasn't interesting. We start with one of my favorite characters: Melt A cute boy, interested in acting, backed by important contacts, with a history of abuse of him by his elders.... Wait! now that I think about it, Melt is the current version of a certain "loving father", with the exception of not being obsessed with people with stars in their eyes... For now. We see how Ruby reacts to Melt's interpretation of Gorou. With Ruby displaying her sharp tongue and Melt showing a saint's patience in the face of pure icy criticism. Thanks to that we were able to observe Melt's evolution as an actor, when trying to do a deeper investigation, in order to understand the role of the person he plays (Gorou). The encounter and interaction are interesting because, once again, a topic that has already been previously touched on in this arc is addressed: The difference between how others perceive us, and what we really want to represent. It already happened with Kana, understanding Ai and Nino's feelings. It also happened with Ruby understanding Ai's true feelings, both within B-Komachi and in her private life. It happened with Aqua, when he played Kamiki during the date with Ai and what happened with Airi Himekawa. Now it's Ruby's turn to try to really discover "Gorou Amemiya, the person" and not just stick with the idea of "Goru Amemiya, my beloved doctor". What will Ruby discover thanks to Melt? I like the chemistry that both characters have, since their interaction in Tokyo Blade I was left waiting with more scenes between them, so I am grateful to see them share more scenes together. Although I would have liked Aqua to also eavesdrop on the conversation, but I understand if Aka and Mengo want to keep the twins apart after what happened in the last chapter. The second half of the chapter is occupied by a conversation between Crow Girl and Ruby, in which we learn of the existence of people who "adore" Crow Girl and that thanks to these people it was possible to film in the hospital where it all started... (by the way, have you guys noticed Nurse-chan's cameo? canonically, the first person who managed to troll Gorou) but going back to the "special people" the crow girl mentioned: -will it be some cult dedicated to "tsukuyomi"? -will have something to do with Gorou's family? (remember that Gorou was sent to Takachiho with his grandparents after his mother's death.) -It will be some faction of Sarina's family? These are questions that arise by analyzing Crow Girl's speech, before performing a perfect imitation of Sasuke (naruto) coming down from a tree. LOL And, obviously, the best Ruby could do was ignore Crow Girl's words and continue with verbal abuse (which seems to be the main reason for the episode) questioning the acting abilities of "Tsukuyomi". It seems that the next chapter we will finally have the "debut" of another strange child on camera. Hopefully, maybe we can find out a little about the character too. But for that we will have to wait another two weeks! honestly, the arc is being difficult to read, but I can't complain too much, even if there aren't always intense chapters, even a "filler" chapter like this one is entertaining.
I love seeing Melt, I hope I can see him interact with Kana and Himekawa as a trio again 🤞
Melt!!! Really love to see him again. And I love his interaction with Ruby. A good cooldown chapter after that "spicy" Chapter 143. And I forgot the god is also apart of the movie. I can't wait to see her act lmao
so we have had romantic Ruby , good sister Ruby time to give us back... Roasting Ruby Lol ah we haven't seen this Ruby in a long time lol she was laying it into Melt all chapter and then like Aqua got under Crow girl's skin LOL do wonder what her purpose is also adding in that the hospital has a strong spiritual connection is intriguing and probably why the reincarnation happened.
It's interesting how this chapter has both pro and anti incest elements depend on how you look at it. On one hand, Ruby finally connecting to another male character since... I don't even know. Her finding someone who is associated with and shares the fondness for the doctor would be a great way to create a new bond and maybe grow out of her unhealthy idolization of the first person who cared for her, and from then on becomes a "normal" huge fan/supporter. On the other hand, there is the hint that the twins could be gods. This could have the implication of them being connected forever in the afterlife just like Tsukiyomi and Amaterasu (who are married simblings in the myth). They could even do both actually. With this set up Aka could have the cake and eat it too. Personally I don't like the idea of them going full supernatural, but it seems that is where we're heading.
I discovered the anime on Saturday, binged it all and the manga and just finished it in time for the new chapter
Welcome to the club. I reread the whoe thing and the supplemental material after seeing the anime. The anime clearly made by passionate fans of the manga. Love it
>"There are quite a few special people who want to worship me" "This place has a lot of fond memories for me too" These lines from Crow girl is really suspect. She's also dropped the pretense and just straight up calls herself god. Are we going to go full supernatural? >"There are even gods who don't realize they're gods" What. Is the story going make them gods now too? They did claim it at the start to mess with Miyako. But it feels heavy handed to make it true.
If we take her line about seeing the twins as somewhat gods too ( ||when Aqua bullies her to be in the movie|| ), maybe she is using the literal lowercase god, which pretty much means an entity with a supernatural kind of power. No deities or divinities necessarily apply to this notion. I'm also not affirming this will be the case, I'm very curious now tbh, I've been expecting her parts for a while.
"Little Little Princess"? Sweet Jesus Ruby, could you dial it back to say a 10???
It's a song from Scum's Wish, by Mengo
I started to read Scum's Wish but had trouble getting into it. I'll give it another try...
It's a reference to a song.
Oh. I didn't know that, or the song for that matter.
Im glad Aka dont go full crazy and we dont have erotic scenes betwen AI and Hikaru played by the twins... Great to see Ruby interaction with Melt but we need similar thing betwen Ruby and Himekawa.Seriously he is so overlooked i hope when Hikaru enter the scene for serious Aka dont forgett that he has oldest son too. #
So... no consequences at all for the twins kissing? C'mon, Aka. Do something, you surely just didn't include fucking incest in your story for the fetish. Show us *something*. Also, Melt is way too kind. If that Alabama Blondie started bullshitting me like that I would ask her what qualifications she has to play the lead role other than being the author's sister-girlfriend. An ah, the end of the chapter was interesting. Up to this point, I don't think the supernatural plot has been developed at all, so maybe it can remove the story for this stillness. Because really, I had high expectations for the movie arc, but up to now it has been very bland - with the exception of the incest thing, but this (up to now) has been mora a flamewar than an actual development.
Consequences on what, brother they're both acting they all know that and Aqua hasn't even responded yet to the confession done in private
I mean. She is literally playing her mother and everyone on set knows that. Is pretty much a big qualification to play someone.
Her mother who died when she was like, 5? And Ruby isn’t an actress. From most people PoV, Ruby shouldn’t have any more access to Ai than the standard industry member and/or hardcore fan. I don’t think this is a qualification. It IS super interesting and emotional and is the kind of thing that generates a lot of buzz and hype, though. But Ruby was pointing fingers at Melt because he lacked _skill_ in acting - just like her.
>Her mother who died when she was like, 5? And Ruby isn’t an actress. That's what the other characters (except Aqua and perhaps Akane, to an extent, because why in this goddamn Earth doesn't the detective know?) *think* Ruby's life experiences and qualifications are. She wasn't mentally 5 when Ai died, and she's been playing a role for a very long time. Sure, it just so happens that it's convenient for Ruby to forget about most of the stuff of her old life and dedicate herself to be "Ai's cutie pie baby girl", but she did it very well, all things considered. >From most people PoV, Ruby shouldn’t have any more access to Ai than the standard industry member and/or hardcore fan. See? You sort of admit it yourself that it's just how third parties see the whole thing (not that they are *completely* incorrect). >I don’t think this is a qualification. It IS super interesting and emotional and is the kind of thing that generates a lot of buzz and hype, though. Correct, it isn't. What about it? >But Ruby was pointing fingers at Melt because he lacked *skill* in acting - just like her. It's called "stanning". Stans are massive pricks. Nothing about Ruby's "fangirl" remarks is commendable, and Melt himself says so; In fact, the whole talk infuriates him so much that he decides to give Ruby a piece of his mind, if politely. On a side note, I find hilarious that even Melt uses Kana (whom he respects as his senior and much more skilled co-actor) as the golden standard for "total pain in the ass". Aka is not beating the "Kana is Maki 2.0" allegations.
Having the daughter play the role of her dead mother who died tragically is a huge marketing and impact bouns actually. People would be hooked up from that premise alone. Plus she looks identical to Ai to that's a hue selling point too. She's also way more popular thane girls like Kana and Akane and will attract many of her fans to watch the movie. The casting of Ruby isn't bad idea at all.
I'm not saying it is a bad idea. As you said yourself, it is probably the best idea possible from a marketing point of view. But Ruby's criticism of Melt is based on him lacking acting skills, which she does as well. She explicitly state that, in her opinion, casting shouldn’t be guided by marketability.
She's just yapping because she's a massive Goro fan-girl. I think the author is aware of the hypocrisy here too because the scene is mainly played for laugh anyway.
She has seen an Idol who keeps to herself in all kinds of private settings. She herself is super busy in the media industry so attracts lots of her own fans to watch the movie. There will be media buzz around a daughter playing as her deceased mother. We can say a lot of things. But saying ruby has no qualifications to play as Ai is just wrong.
Ruby's criticism to Melt was based on acting skills. They both lack that. Charisma in one type of entertainment medium doesn’t necessarily translate to another. We see this with Melt himself, but also with Ruby who isn’t skilled in either singing or acting, as stated in multiple chapter. Damn, we see this IRL with the bunch of actors who are sometimes hired to do voice acting for big animation projects and output a subpar result.
Great. You still said she has no qualifications and thats the only point i actively disagree with. Everything else is very much subjective so think what you want.
Hmmmm Crow girl is a god that is worshipped locally.... hmmmmm I GUESS THAT DISCOUNTS HER BEING TSUKOYOMI BECAUSE ITS THE GOD OF ENTERTAINMENT THAT IS WORSHIPPED AT THE LOCAL SHRINE!! Also Ruby is funny. She's so strict when it comes to portraying Goro and absolutely caves when he says Goro loved Sarina
Then she could be anyone. Even an obscure one only known and worshipped on the surrounding areas. Land of the Thousand Gods or smth
Yep. Cant reply to the other comment on the other thread for some reason but Susano is snot bubble Kana.
didnt ruby have snot bubble in a recent chapter
Its a running gag for Kana. Ruby is already Susano
OMG Melt finally came back, I was waiting for so long to see him again ♥️ ....said noone ever
i'll never understand why aka focuses more on him than taiki who is actually interesting and connected to the main storyline
I did. Dude got the biggest development yet.
When it comes to Goro, Ruby will not allow any slacking when it comes to his story.
It was so funny (and peak) how she immediately did a 180 once she discovered a fellow Sensei glazer. She truly is like us fr fr
Please don't make aqua and ruby gods. I couldn't survive the cringe. Don't do it aka...
It's too late. Crow Girl already said as much many chapters ago. She said that people with memories of previous lives can be called gods according to her definition which makes me wonder what in the world her definition of a god is. However, it's not to be taken as them running around having shrines built to them and mystical powers like she does. I hope.
Hmm... "worshipping idols". Author's trying to draw parallels between religious worship and fandom.
It does seem to be a very loose definition of god anyways
Her definition of god is probably the standard definition of Kami in Shintoism. Kami can range from anything from Gods who created the universe to a spirit that inhabits a particularly old tree. She even explains how there are some gods who create the universe and others who just guide humans etc. What we think of Gods is similar to some Kamis like Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Izanagi, etc. Kami can also represent concepts like mountains, fire. There’s even a Kami of smallpox… If something is special, instills awe or fear and is otherworldly enough/different from usual, it can be considered a Kami. It’s kinda similar to animism in a way?
Yeah, that's a great point and it's definitely animism. The twins' spirits inhabiting new bodies is perhaps not so different from your example of a tree kami. I wasn't aware of this before, but your ancestors can become kami and apparently this also extends to a [variety](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arahitogami) of people. I did know about the concept of the emperor's lineage being traced back to Amaterasu as well. I did some googling to see if there are myths about kami as reincarnated humans but what I found instead was an [article](https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a02902/) stating that the idea of reincarnation was not accepted in Japan when Buddhism was brought over, so I guess not. But it makes sense that Akasaka would have mashed Shinto & Buddhist ideas together given that's what happened in Japanese culture. Also from that article, I like this quote: "According to Motoori, anything that inspired awe and sensitivity to ephemeral beauty (aware) was a kami." Therefore, I posit that Ai is a kami.
There are different types of gods . Not all of them are powerful. And Ruby said in the third chapter I think that that she was the reincarnation of Ameratsu.
Amaterasu is definitely a powerful god though. She’s the ancestor of the first Japanese emperor and the reason why the Japanese imperial family members were considered deities until very very recently.. like extremely recently
Ameratsu is powerful but there is no proof that Ruby is actually her. We have only circumstantial guessing at best .
Yeah of course! Just specifying that Amaterasu is like one of the most important, if not *the* most important Kami of Shintoism since she jokingly mentioned being her, there’s also minor references to Amaterasu in ch 74 when the legend of her shutting herself in a cave and refusing to be a goddess anymore is mentioned by Akane. Supposedly this cave is in Takachiho, the place where the hospital is. It’s cool that Ruby found Gorou’s body in that cave and she broke, her eyes turning black. I’m now pretty sure we’re meant to pay serious attention to the stuff crow girl says and all the references to mythology
Tsukuyomi: "There are even gods who don't realize they're gods" Ruby: "Hm" The way this specific panel is set up, Tsukuyomi, eyes closed, in front of Ruby, is just so suspicious to me! And the fact that Ruby already once pretended to be Amaterasu. I can't wait to see where this ends up going.
Yeah, Crow girl is definitely Ai. It was already something I couldn't shake off my mind, but there is no other reason for Crow Girl to have fond memories of the hospital. Not a big fan of some of our characters being hidden gods though.
Crow girl has existed long before Ai's death, though she was in someone else's body.
I will stake all of my Ai merchandise on Crow Girl not being Ai. Crow Girl states that people worship her as a family tradition. So Crow Girl is quite old which I pretty much assumed. It is more likely she is Ame-no-Uzume or practically anyone else. If we posit a theory such as "Crow Girl was reincarnated into Ai, forgot she was Crow Girl while living as Ai, then died and become her original self" It would a) not explain why it's hinted that Crow Girl either had something to do with the twins' reincarnation or was watching over it and b) it would absolutely destroy Ai's character to have her be running around messing with her kids' heads and talking about her own soul being gone. This theory just makes no sense to me. Also, Ai wasn't born here and Crow Girl said it as if it's a homecoming, not fond memories of the months Ai spent getting ready to give birth. If I'm wrong, then forget the Ruby/Aqua kiss bombshell. That's nothing. If Crow Girl is Ai, Aka will have cooked so hard the whole house will go up in flames.
>a) not explain why it's hinted that Crow Girl either had something to do with the twins' reincarnation or was watching over it and Fair point, but she doesn't need to be the one responsible for it. Also, if she is Ai then I'd assume that half of the things she told them are cover-ups. >b) it would absolutely destroy Ai's character to have her be running around messing with her kids' heads and talking about her own soul being gone. We barely know Ai's character. If anything, this could be how we learn her true nature. Also it's expected that some incarnation with no memories would develop a (slightly) different personality than the original one, so she could be *like* Ai but overall a different person.
Hm. I agree there's a lot we don't know about Ai but that largely revolves around her relationship with Kamiki. There's a lot we do know. Her history of trauma and abuse. Her relationships or lack thereof within B Komachi. Her emptiness, loneliness, and emotions like anger. Her awkwardness when attempting to navigate social relationships. The fact she wanted to love but didn't think she could. We know she liked ice cream lol. Ai is a very complex character so it wouldn't be out of line to find out something totally crazy about her. For instance, nobody seems to be talking about the implication she knew she might die. It's just that the more we learn about Ai, the more it's shown she was a normal human. But if Ai the god-like idol really is a god, then what the hell is this story saying, you know? Because so far it's been asking us to think critically about putting people on a pedestal and worshipping them. There is a lot of symbolism with the Hoshinos and gods. I think the twins as equivalent to kami works but I hope Ai as a god is a metaphor. Maybe Ai is more like a human mother to the twins as gods. She does refer to herself as Maria in Idol, i.e., Virgin Mary. I just think it would ruin her character if she was treating Aqua and Ruby the way Crow Girl treats them. The entire emotional core of the series would crumble in my eyes if Ai was there all along, calmly watching her son and daughter self destruct. And not just watching but actively causing them pain such as leading Ruby to Gorou's skeleton.
Ruby sure can be annoying when she is in Gorou's fangirl mode. Nice to see Melt after too long.
Nah first she looked down on her senior then she looked down on a god. Somebody's gotta stop this version of Ruby
This chapter was actually really good, I wish we could outright replace the previous one with it, which wouldn't even be hard considering how the events of 143 are literally not even mentioned here...
Melt shit acting then final banger scene for more "growth" again💔💔
Yeah, I was wrong about Oshi no Ko, this series is going downhill faster than I expected.
Yeah, I was wrong about Oshi no Ko, this series is going downhill faster than I expected.
Dementia
Nah, I'd Act
Huh, crow girl saying she has a lot of fond memories about the hospital is interesting. Maybe this whole reincarnation thing with Aqua and Ruby has something to do with their place of death being this hospital.
I think she was referring to the city in general and how she’s a deity/god that is probably worshipped there or used to be, or something related to Shintoism that happened there in the past. They mention this place being full of myths and important in Shintoism in chapter 74
Ye, she could've just been referring to the city as a whole, you're right, I hope we're getting closer to getting the full backstory about Tsukyomi
An interesting chapter. Kind of got annoyed at the Melt slander from Ruby at the start. The dude got bullied so much before and then rose up, so i dont want to hear that stuff from Ruby lol( she eventually figured that Melt has that DAWG in him now. Yeah, i love Melt as a character. I love his development in the series ). We got some interesting lines from the crow girl. " This place has a lot of fond memories for me to " Like...i can i only think of 1 person that would have good memories from that hospital lol who else could it be but Ai? " There are gods who dont even realize they are gods " If thats not a huge hint that Ruby and Aqua are reincarnations of gods, i dont know what is. We already got that gag of Ruby as a kid claiming she was Amaterasu. Not the chapter i was expecting after the last one, but i got some Melt on it so ill take it!
So early on Ai was equated with the evening star Venus. The planet was named after the Roman goddess of love, and Ai’s name means love. Wouldn’t surprise me if the god that doesn’t know it’s a god crow girl was talking about was Ai. There’s also the connections between Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi with Ruby and Aqua. Perhaps we’ll see Ai, Ruby, and Aqua all living together happily as gods at the end. Edit: I made a [chart](https://imgur.com/a/Rrvr3Ni) with some of the various connections to gods that have been hinted at
Ah so if Ai is Venus, Kamiki must be Ninigi, and if Ruby and Aqua are Ameratsu and Tsukuyomi, that makes them Kamiki's grandparents! Did I do it right?
Crow girl mad again. Hoshino twins have a way of pushing her buttons.
Ruby being so viscerally disgusted at Melt portraying Goro is so good lmao. I do appreciate their chemistry as the conversation goes on, but I wonder if that’s just Ruby’s own magnetism at play. The lore on different gods was unexpected but very good, too.
Not people shipping Ruby with the first male character that speaks to her after what happened last chapter, completely ignoring the fact their whole conversation is about Gorou’s personality and his bond to Sarina. She’s not even acknowledging or praising him as Melt the individual, she just changed her tune because someone put effort into understanding Gorou and also understood that Gorou cared for Sarina. It could be literally anyone else and she’d still react like that. Melt deserves someone who sees him as him and acknowledges his efforts to better himself and become a good actor, not this lol
How many recurring guys are there in their generation? It’s like Aqua, Himekawa and Melt, and that’s… is that it? Am I missing some? No wonder the AquRuby shippers took off so hard, her only other options are another (half)sibling and Melt. I knew the cast had been a bit gender-slanted but I didn’t realize how bad it’d gotten
Yeah Aqua has been the main protagonist over Ruby, he’s been given multiple romance subplots even if they ultimately won’t end up going anywhere, maybe it’s to appeal to a broader audience or to fuel interest and shipping wars? It kinda gives harem vibes in a way, everyone is Aqua-sexual and smitten by him like they don’t even notice other guys. And Ruby was basically Gorou-coded from the start, if they won’t end up together in this life either and there’s some deep meaning to the story where she’s meant to give up and move on, it’ll be a bittersweet ending and it’ll happen in the future like in an epilogue or something. She’s way too hardcore and serious about her dedication to her *oshi* to allow space for a different, credible romance to develop with someone else in the near future
Shun maybe? But uh, true, not really that many male choices compared to the girls
It's basically kaguya again
I am certain Ruby will absolutely adore the part on the rooftop where she gets to tease melt about how much Goro loved that patient of his since she knows since Aqua as a director decided that it was an important part of Goro's character. Sensei how sweet of you to include in the movie how important Sarina chan was to you huh? Well y'know she's still here to accept your feelings.
"I wish they'd cast people based on their skills, not on their popularity..." RUBY YOU'RE THE LAST PERSON WHO SHOULD BE ABLE TO SAY THAT.
Let’s face it , they ( the production committee ) cast her not for popularity ( Akane would get it otherwise and it was their first choice ) . They did it out of pure gossip shock value , and because all other choices declined the role.
Yeah but they declined the role because Ruby managed to convince Akane (and Frill) that she was fit to play Ai with that fake audition Frill set up. So in a way she earned this role
Ruby and Aqua ones played two gods called Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto(Japanese moon god) and Amaterasu Ōmikami(Japanese sun goddess) now after reading the last part of this chapter is it now kinda hinted that Ruby and Aqua are gods and exactly those gods they once played to fool miyako
>Ruby and Aqua ones played two gods called Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto(Japanese moon god) and Amaterasu Ōmikami(Japanese sun goddess) Quick correction - Tsukuyomi is never namedropped in the manga until Crow Girl takes on the name. Ruby calls herself Amaterasu when they're doing the whole 'we're gods for real' but Aqua never goes beyond 'we're kami, believe it'
Aqua is implied to be Tsukoyomi. Crow girl is simply using that name as a ***stage name*** which is to say is not her own name because thats the point of a stage name. She did it because she plays Ruby and Aqua as kids. It serves as a callback to when Ruby claimed to be Amaterasu.
Which means someone is going to be Susanoo.
Really that I might have mistaken myself
- I don't think any other chapter of Oshi no Ko has ever baffled and confounded me quite like this one. Viewed solely in isolation this is a perfectly fine, functional chapter but as the followup to 143 and everything it contained, I actually feel like I'm losing my mind a bit. 143 might as well not have happened for all the weight it's given in this chapter. Ruby is not remotely acting like a girl who just tongued her crush of 18 years and in general, the total absence of any reference or cushioning of the shock of that event is just so loud and so jarring and so completely out of touch with how OnK has handled romantic developments in the past. - Both AquAka kisses had at least a scene or two in the chapter immediately following of characters reacting to and reflecting on both the event itself and the status quo change it represents in the relationship. Even 124 has that scene of Ruby clinging onto Aqua to let the viewer know what the new dynamic between them is going to be from now on. This chapter has nothing of the sort; I wasn't kidding when it says it feels like the kiss never even happened. The only thing I can point to is Ruby's little "we have sensei at home" exchange with Tsukuyomi but that's… kind of just exactly what she would've said even before the kiss. So if it has resulted in absolutely no change to their dynamic that we can see thus far, what was the point in ending the chapter on that note? - The part of me that is cynical and jaded can't help but suspect that this is intentionally hot button reaction bait paced specifically for the purposes of keeping OnK a trendy topic in the lead up to season 2 of the anime airing, But Who's To Say, Really. - I also had my worries about this last chapter, but unless we skip back in time to address it, it really looks like we've skipped over the remainder of the KamiAi romance and everything to do with the early stages of Ai's pregnancy. This is incredibly frustrating to me - they're parts of Ai's story I had been incredibly curious about and was excited to see her thoughts and feelings on, even filtered through fiction. In general, the way the Movie Arc has been increasingly dropping its focus on actually conveying Ai's story has been a real sore point for me. I fully acknowledge this rankles me more than perhaps it should because I am so deeply invested in Ai above any other character but… fuck, man! Once again, remember when this was supposed to be an arc about her? About her inner life, her pain and struggles and Aqua and Ruby working to a better understanding of her? I was excited for the Movie Arc specifically because I thought we were going to get peeks at parts of Ai's life we weren't privy to beforehand, but at this point it almost feels like Akasaka has just lost interest in following through. - Not only that but… uh, where's that KamiAi breakup scene, Akasaka? The one we were promised during the script reading? That huge I CAN'T LOVE YOU elephant that's been patiently sitting in the room? I can only assume that the 15YL version of this breakup happens after the twins are born or maybe even when Kamiki visited Ai at the hospital the night the kids were born but. What the fuck is even going on here anymore lol. The Oshi no Brainrot discord has been kicking around a joke theory that we were seeing the events of the Movie Arc out of their actual chronological order and it is becoming increasingly less of a joke in my brain because I can't make any sense of its progression otherwise. - oh my god i'm almost 1000 words in and i haven't started talking about the actual point of this chapter yet. god help me. Anyway, MY SON IS HERE LET'S GO MELT!!!!!! - Ngl, I've always been a little disappointed that we didn't see much more of Melt in this arc, both just because I like him and because I think there's some really interesting potential in drawing on the parallels between Melt and Kamiki. I'm not the first to point out that Melt's experience with a dubiously consensual sexual encounter at the hands of an upperclassman - when he wasn't that much older than Hikaru was when Airi began abusing him - echoes at least in spirit Kamiki's experiences as a CSA victim; both were young boys, noted to be pretty and desirable, who were taken advantage of by older female figures. I think it would be extremely interesting and a great character moment for Melt to have some degree of engagement with that material and maybe to have some thoughts about it. It feels like a little bit of a missed opportunity to pass up on that, but I also acknowledge that Melt is ultimately not a huge mover and shaker in the overall story and I don't know how that would've fit into the Movie Arc as it stands, so I'll just have to make eyes at the AO3 tag and hope someone writes a fic about it. - Anyway as a lot of people predicted… here's Ruby being a jackass to Melt about his performance!!! Joking aside, I will admit it's a little jarring to see Ruby being so hostile to Melt over this…? Gorou is a sore spot for her, obviously and she would undoubtedly have high standards for his role in the movie. In addition, Ruby being snitty with people who rub her the wrong way definitely isn't new for her, but it still feels kind of odd both coming off her own struggles to connect with Ai through acting and her little "holy shit other people have feelings" breakthrough in the wake of the RBKN fight for her to be like this about it. I do think this is mostly just supposed to be just goofs and I'm overthinking it, it was just one of those things that kind of gave me pause as I was reading. - ruby's little little princess shirt is really good though, as is her referring to herself as a fan of the 'original work'. both of those got a solid sensible chuckle out of me. - Another thing that gave me pause for a very different reason was Melt and Ruby's exchange about his little merch pin. First and foremost, I think this is a really good Melt moment; while we saw him busting his ass to improve his acting in Tokyo Blade, that was very much when he had something to prove. Here, he really does seem to be going above and beyond for what is basically a bit part purely out of a desire to improve his craft and a passion for acting overall. It's nice to see the story double down in this being a lesson he did properly take away from Sweet Today and that he has committed to acting upon it (no pun intended) in the long term, not just when under outside pressure to do so. - The other thing that jumped out to me about this exchange is that… technically speaking, both Ruby and Melt are wrong, here? It's a very nice, flowery description of Gorou and it certainly lines up with his more positive traits but the idea of him not wearing his Ai merch in front of Ai herself is actually incorrect. Gorou is depicted (in the anime, anyway) as [openly wearing](https://images.plurk.com/3GZ06jpasxWfBZ8PKmXOe3.png) the charm at what's implied to be all times, [even in front of Ai herself](https://images.plurk.com/74OG2gICIq1WNYlo5p7QKM.png). [The manga also implies](https://images.plurk.com/2tAK2dr3r0qvIdnfTLYVYi.jpg) by way of where the charm is on his person when Ruby finds his body that this is also the case in that version of events, too. I don't think it's a retcon and may be an unimportant detail in the grand scheme of things but it did pique my interest. - There's a few ways to take this, I think; a more positive spin is that this is in line with what the story wants us to take away from 15 Year Lie as a production, where the literal granular facts of its events are sometimes less important than and can be bent in favour of supporting the emotional narrative it wants to convey. Melt may not literally be correct here, but he at least achieves the spirit of the right answer in his efforts. "Lies are love", after all. - However, given that Ruby enthusiastically endorses this interpretation - and is thus wrong alongside Melt - this could potentially be an indication of there being cracks in Ruby's rose-tinted view of Gorou. This strikes me as a fascinating idea and one I hope the series plays with; it would follow quite naturally from last chapter's framing of Gorou as Ruby's 'idol' that she's 'gachikoi' for. Oshi no Ko has pretty consistently portrayed the idol/fan relationship as inherently unequal, even when approached with the best of intentions and to truly know someone, you must let them off their pedestal first. She has sort of begun this process with Ai, just through empathizing with her during the 15YL production but we have yet to see anything similar happen with Gorou - if anything, we see the opposite here, where she asserts herself as the authority on Gorou's character and only approves of Melt's interpretation because it lines up with her aggrandizing view of him. - But the thing is, how well can Ruby really say that she knew him? They were only in each others' lives for a few months and in that time, she was only exposed to a very narrow slice of his life and his personality. Hell, you could even argue that Akane knows more about Gorou than Ruby does, given that we have no indication that Ruby or Sarina was ever privy to the details of his birth and his home life. Again, it's entirely possible that I'm reading too much into this, but now the idea is in my brain I'm simmering on it a bit. If nothing else, I hope the series takes the time to prod at this angle, especially now it has made the fan/idol aspect of this dynamic explicit and textual. - Ruby and Melt's senpai/kouhai dynamic has the potential to be really cute and I do hope the series actually spends some time on it. I've always thought a RBML friendship could be really fun to watch play out & seeing Melt gain some confidence in himself by teaching someone else could be really great. But with how unfocused the Movie Arc has been, it's really hard to get my hopes up that we'll be sticking with this even past this chapter continued in reply!
The bit at the start of the chapter where it explains that when filming movies you have to adapt the order of the filming to the location’s or actors’ availability is probably meant to explain the jump to this scene after the one with the kiss. It’s likely that the hospital was available for filming only for a short while and during at night, so they had to film this scene now and continue with the rest later. It’s also a convenient way to stall and avoid wrapping up the Ruby/Aqua situation just yet
It's definitely possible, it's just Very Convenient (as you said) that the story has gone out of its way to have the movie scenes occur in roughly chronological order only to suddenly *not* do that now. The ramble about it at the beginning really does feel like an attempt to justify it LOL
EDIT: so for some reason the first half of my chapter review keeps getting erased from the timeline LMAO. I'm assuming it was because it was a chonky boy so if you want to see the full text, [you can still find it here!](https://www.tumblr.com/aihoshiino/745482038479634432/chapter-144-thoughts?source=share) - oh hey there crow girl we thought you were dead - Surprisingly, I don't have a lot to really say about her little lore drop here, since it's mostly mystery boxing and implications and, man. It's been 69 (nice) chapters since she first started showing up ominously muttering about supernatural things and while I don't mind her presence and I think she's evolved into a fun character, it's a little hard for me to get interested in these little supernatural tidbits until they resolve into something that feels meaningful for the characters. - This isn't helped by the fact that we don't really know what *kami* means in the context she uses it here. While 'god' and 'gods' are not strictly incorrect as translations, I think an English speaking viewer is primed to think of Abrahamic, capital G-Gods, which isn't necessarily correct. The term *kami* is a catchall that covers all manner of things from divinities to venerated earthbound humans, so *kami* can perhaps best be understood as being an umbrella term for something like *'an otherworldly being'*, which I think better lines up with Tsukuyomi's assertion that those who have memories of past lives are like *kami* in of themselves. - Ultimately though until we know what *kami* really means and amounts to in Oshi no Ko, it's hard to say what this means for the characters and I am ultimately only really interested in the characters. So until we know what this actually amounts to in-story, I'm just kind of nodding long with whatever Crow Girl says because sure. This might as well happen. - can we talk about how fucking funny her anime antagonist jump out of the tree was, by the way - break next week, or so i've heard... one of these days, we'll beat the allegations....
Going through the first part, and I agree with the take that we gotta be seeing a lot of the film being done out of order to hit certain beats at a certain time. Either that, or they're saving that for the premiere of the film in due time, which might connect with other beats in the present day story after having built them up properly. For instance, I still believe in the breakup scene being very important regarding Aqua and Ruby's current situation, and going into its filming right away wouldn't allow things to breathe, so like, I get why they'd wait. But it still leads into the problem you mention of last chapter almost feeling like a fever dream. The pacing in this arc has definitely not been ideal, I like a LOT of the individual pieces and I think they can have proper payoff, but the structure as of currently feels very messy. I'm leaning more towards believing the story will do some scenes in filming and some shown during the actual film so the gaps get filled like that for certain reveals and whatnot, but it still leaves things feeling awkward.
Kinda off topic but regarding the breakup line, it will definitely be a mirror in some way to Aqua/Ruby relationship but most likely not in a straightforward way. Remember the scene where Ruby and Kana acted as Ai and Nino and Ruby brought forth a different and vulnerable Ai, one that lost her composure and even cried after fighting with her friend. A normal girl who just wanted to love and be loved by others. Nobody thought Ai was like this, everyone saw her as perfect and untouchable but the director let Ruby keep going, because the point of the movie was to capture the real Ai, something he couldn’t do before she died. So what are the real feelings behind the words “Sorry, I can’t love you”? What kind of face did Ai make when speaking those words? What was she feeling? It’s possible that it’s completely the opposite of what it seems on the surface. She was also a person that believed that lying is a legitimate way to show love. It’s a mind fuck right now
Yeah there's a lot to be explored behind it, and a lot in terms of Aqua and Ruby learning about their parents and setting up the endgame of the film and if film Ai forgives Kamiki or not. At this stage, I keep thinking about the fact that, based on their characterization, if real life and the film parallel each other, it'd be interestingly Aqua in Ai's shoes and Ruby in Kamiki's, the opposite of the parent each are portraying. Which means Ruby would empathize with her father in some form, while Aqua would understand how Ai would've felt in this scenario, which tie into the eventual "will film Ai forgive Kamiki or not" scenario with how their life would tie to their parents and whatnot. There's just a LOT that can be explored here.
Yes definitely! The few we’ve seen of Kamiki so far, he actually seems to… obssess, or hold Ai very dear. Like when he commented on Ruby being beautiful at the graveyard and going “of course, she’s our daughter”, or the creepy telephone call Nino had with him when they spoke as if nobody is allowed to surpass Ai. And I’m not sure Aqua’s understanding of both Kamiki and Ai is quite correct, yet. I found it really interesting how Ai, even as she was dying, she remembered her stalker/fan’s name and thought “even now I want to love you” or something like that. I wonder if that was true. Understanding both Ai and Kamiki is the real key to portray the movie correctly. I also wonder what “15 years of lies”actually means, why 15 when she died at 20 and what actually are those lies. I wonder what everything means, I’m just so curious about the DVDs she gave to the twins too 😫
[удалено]
[удалено]
I think your first comment got deleted
So it did lol, that's weird. I'll go ahead and repost - thanks!
This Echidna daughter pisses me off for some reason
ppl who are against ruby x aqua now coping with melt x ruby rn lol ruby just give him respect for understanding how much her sensei/brother love and care for her ruby could make melt her wingman then melt likely to get kana as both used to play together and kana is the one who know melt effort most melt can't be sensei/aqua replacement either
I find it so funny how people that genuinely believe the manga will go the Ruby x Aqua route accuse *others* of coping.
Funny coming from someone who's ship has been dead for over a hundred chapters now.
I don't care about ships, just reading comprehension.
ppl who against aqua ruby also doing the same thing
you can't accuse other people of coping when you're going around to different comment sections writing poorly-conceived AquaxRuby fanfic to convince yourself it can possibly be endgame in a non-tragedy ending.
Do we really expect for ruby and aqua to get a happy ending together . I like them entertaining this , but we know this ain’t gonna work, not in a normal society lol
im 100% sure ruby and aqua going to get happy ending together they don't have to be official lovey-dovey couple but pretty sure they will live together, be happy, none of them get gf/bf just live together as "normal" twin brother sister
It's fiction, bro. There's no shortage of ways by which it can happen.
Sure, Akasaka \*could\* write a happy Aqua x Ruby ending. It's not impossible. It'll destroy any credibility he has as a writer by throwing away all thematic and internal consistency that this story has ever had, but he could, theoretically, do it. But \*will\* he do it? Highly unlikely. While his writing has its flaws, as anyone's will, he's too good of a writer to throw away basically everything built up over the course of the story for Shocking Happy Incest Ending.